3 


MISSIONARY  ISSUES 


OF  THE 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


PAPERS  AND  ADDRESSES  OF  THE 


General  Missionary   Conference 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH,  HELD  IN  NEW 

ORLEANS   APRIL   24-30,  1901;   WITH   A    NUMBER    OF 

MAPS   AND    CHARTS   IN   ILLUSTRATION   OF 

THE  WORK  OF  MISSIONS,  THE  LATEST 

STATISTICAL   TABLES,   AND    A 

SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


NASHVILLE,  TKNN.,  U.  S.  A.: 

PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 
GEORGE  W.  CAIN,  SECRETARY. 


NASHVILLE,  TENN.;  DALLAS,  TEX.: 

PRESS  OF  PUBLISHING  HOUSE  M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

BARBEE  &  SMITH,  AGENTS. 


25  SO 

A?-. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY.  PAGE 

Prefatory  Note 2 

Origin  and  Purpose  of  the  Conference 3 

The  General  Missionary  Conference 10 

I.  MISSIONS. 
SECTION  I.  THE  FOUNDATION. 

-'The  Aim  and  Scope  of  Foreign  Missions 23 

The  Missionary  Idea 33 

/The  Healing  of  the  Nations 45 

Oneness  in  Christ 62 

Obedience  to  the  Great  Commission  :  Christ's  Law  of  Life 

to  His  Church 74 

Prayer  and  Missions 80 

The  Adequacy  of  Christianity  to  Meet  the  World's  Need.  .  .  89 

The  Bible  and  Missions 100 

The  Duty  of  the  Pastor  as  to  Missionary  Equipment  and 

Leadership no 

Methodism  and  Modern  Missions 117 

SECTION  II.  EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 

Christian  Education  and  Foreign  Mission  Work 126 

Missions  and  Education 133 

The  Value  of  the  Study  of  Missions  to  College  Students.  .  .  145 

Woman's  Educational  Work 154 

Our  Educational  Work  in  China 169 

SECTION  III.  MEDICAL  WORK. 

The  Physician  as  a  Missionary 179 

Medical  Work  for  Woman 187 

SECTION  IV.  LITERARY  WORK. 

A  Supreme  Need  of  the  Work  in  China 191 

A  General  Survey 1 99 


IV  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  V.  WOMAN'S  WORK.  PAGE 

Woman's  Work  at  Home  and  Abroad 208 

Woman's  Work  in  Foreign  Missions 222 

Bible  Women 231 

SECTION  VI.  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 

The  Young  People  and  the  Church  of  the  Future 241 

The  Sunday  School  Superintendent :  How  He  May  Deepen 

the  Missionary  Spirit  in  the  Sunday  School 257 

The  Highest  Achievement  of  the  Epworth  League 262 

Organization  for  Missionary  Work 267 

The  Responsibility  of  the  Young  People  for  the  Evangeli- 
zation of  the  World 271 

How  to  Make  the  Epworth  League  Most  Effective  as  a 

Missionary   Force 284 

Missionary  Training  and  Literature  for  Young  People.  . .  .   291 

SECTION  VII.  FROM  VARIOUS  STANDPOINTS. 

The  Missionary  Phase  of  Church  Extension 300 

The  Future  of  Missions  in  Asia  from  a  Layman's  Standpoint.  310 

Lessons  from  Master  Missionaries 317 

II.  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 

GENERAL  REVIEW. 

The  History,  Policy,  and  Outlook  of  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Work  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South 337 

I.  CHINA. 

The  Missionary  Outlook  in  the  Far  East 347 

Map  of  China facing  347 

The  Forward  Movement  in  Our  China  Mission 368 

The  Situation  in  China 384 

The  Story  of  the  Siege  of  Peking 394 

II.  MEXICO  AND  CUBA. 

Map  of  Mexico facing  407 

Our  Western  Fields — Mexico  and  Cuba 407 

Map  of  Cuba facing  412 

III.  BRAZIL. 

Evangelistic  Work  in  the  Foreign  Mission  Field 414 

Map  of  Eastern  Brazil facing  422 

Brazil :  A  Survey  of  the  Field 422 


CONTENTS.  V 

III.  JAPAN.  PAGE 

Map  of  Japan facing  428 

Christian  Missions  in  Japan — a  Sketch 428 

V.  KOREA. 

Map  of  Korea facing  440 

The  Korea  Mission 440 

III.  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

I.  THE  INDIANS. 
Work  among  the  North  American  Indians 447 

II.  THE  GERMANS. 

German  Missions 456 

III.  THE  NEGROES. 

Are  We  Meeting  Our  Responsibility  to  the  Negroes  of  the 

South  ? 466 

The  Development,  the  Needs,  and  the  Outlook  of  the  Paine 

Institute 474 

Lane  College 480 

The  Future  of  the  Negro 481 

The  Medical  Education  of  the  Negro 484 

IV.  HOME  MISSIONS. 

Our  Domestic  Missions 493 

Problems  of  Self-Support  and  Administration 499 

Growth  and  Character  of  City  Population  in  the  South.  .  .  .  507 
The  Need  of  Trained  Workers  to  Supplement  Our  Regular 

Church  Agencies  in  City  Missions 519 

Wroman's  Home  Mission  Society,  with  Map 524 

Our  Foreign  and  Factory  Population 529 

The  Literature  of  Home  Missions 539 

ADDRESS. 
Sacrifice  for  Jesus's  Sake 549 

IV.  APPENDIX. 

The  Missionary  Exhibit 557 

Charts 561 

Statistical, Tables 5/8 

Bibliography 585 

Committees  of  the  General  Missionary  Conference 589 

Missionary  Directory,  M.  E.  Church,  South 591 


"CHRIST  IS  IN  THE  VAN." 

In  our  day  we  heat"  much  of"  Back  to  Christ.'1''  j\ly  brethren, 
Christ  is  not  back  there.  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the 
dead?  Let  the  cry  of  the  Church  be  "Forward  to  Christ!" 
Christ  is  in  the  van;  Christ  is  on  the  firing  line;  Christ  is 
wJiere  the  battle  is  being  'waged  and  "where  the  battle  is  being 
won,  and  the  great  cry  on  the  firing  line  is :  "  Close  up !  close 
up  !  I  close  up  !  !  !  " 

And  there  together,  nearest  our  Lord,  ive  are  winning  the 
great  battles  of  Christendom.  And  that  is  the  motto  of  this 
great  Missionary  Conference:  "Forward  to  Christ!  CJose 
ranks  there  under  him,  ivith  his  scarred  hand  pointing  to  where 
we  are  to  take  our  places  in  the  great  battle  line.'1''  Let  us  do  our 
part  on  the  firing  line  until  the  great  victory  is  won  and  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become  Hie  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ. — BISHOP  HENDRIX. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

PREFATORY  NOTE. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 

PROCEEDINGS. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

For  the  rearrangement  into  their  present  order  of  the  papers 
and  addresses  contained  in  this  book,  the  Executive  Committee  is 
indebted  to  Rev.  G.  B.  Winton,  who  as  editor  also  wrote  the 
Proceedings  and  has  exercised  a  general  oversight  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  volume.  The  maps  and  statistics  were  prepared  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  the  charts  by  Rev.  P.  L. 
Cobb,  and  the  index  by  Miss  Kate  Harlan.  The  Bibliography  is 
by  Dr.  O.  E.  Brown. 

For  the  Committee,  JAMES  ATKINS,  Chairman ; 

G.  W.  CAIN,  Secretary. 


ORIGIN  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 

REV.  JAMES     ATKINS,  D.D. 

THE  most  eloquent  souvenir  of  a  civic  kind  that  I  have  ever  seen 
is  the  key  of  the  Bastile,  as  it  hangs  and  rusts  in  the  home  of  Wash- 
ington at  Mt.  Vernon.  The  most  eloquent  souvenir  of  a  religious 
kind  which  I  have  ever  seen  is  the  old  shoemaker's  hammer  which 
William  Carey,  "the  sanctified  cobbler,"  laid  down  when  he  took 
up  the  trumpet  of  the  gospel  in  the  Orient.  The  wooden  handle  of 
that  hammer  is  still  unimpaired  by  age,  and  there  are  men  still  in 
the  flesh  who  were  babes  when  William  Carey  began  his  great  work. 
That  which  has  occurred  in  the  progress  of  this  great  thought,  ffom 
the  time  in  which  William  Carey  glowed  and  burned  as  the  morning 
star  of  modern  missions  to  this  day  in  which  we  meet  in  such  an 
assembly,  is  the  supreme  miracle  of  the  century. 

Possibly  the  largest  religious  gathering  of  modern  times  was  the 
Ecumenical  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions  held  in  New  York 
City  one  year  ago  in  this  month.  It  may  be  that  when  all  the 
streams  of  its  influence  have  been  measured  in  their  results,  it  will 
be  pronounced  the  greatest  meeting  since  the  day  of  Pentecost.  On 
the  first  night  of  that  meeting,  when  Carnegie  Hall  was  taxed  to 
its  utmost,  even  to  the  vestibules,  and  hundreds  were  going  away  in 
disappointment,  a  resident  of  the  city,  himself  in  sympathy  with  the 
purposes  of  the  meeting,  consoled  one  of  the  disappointed  comers 
with  the  assurance  that  the  greatness  of  the  crowd  that  night  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  meeting  was  being  opened  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States ;  and  he  kindly  assured  the  stranger  that  after 
that  evening  there  would  be  no  more  trouble  about  room.  Those 
who  saw  Carnegie  Hall  similarly  taxed  by  day  and  by  night  for  ten 
continuous  days,  and  on  the  last  night  heard  an  Ex-President  of  the 
United  States,  now  recently  laid  to  rest  amid  the  honors  of  his  people, 


4  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

state  that  through  a  lifetime  of  attendance  upon  great  political  and 
civic  conventions  he  had  never  known  one  equal  to  this  in  sustained 
and  ever-deepening  enthusiasm,  realized  that  the  name  of  Jesus  is 
above  every  other  name,  and  that  he  is  already  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords.  The  meeting  was  such  that  no  one  who  was  there 
could  doubt  that  the  vast  and  checkered  metropolis  of  our  na- 
tion felt  temporarily,  and  we  may  hope  permanently,  the  thrill  of 
its  mighty  presence  and  purpose. 

The  personnel  and  scope  of  that  Conference  were  alike  wonderful 
There  were  men  there  of  the  truly  'heroic  mold,  the  Pauline  type, 
who  had  carried  their  lives  in  their  hands,  not  as  a  mere  incident 
now  and  then,  but  as  a  habit  of  life,  until  they  had  grown  white  in 
the  bleachery  of  years  and  with  the  cares  of  the  Churches.  Peter 
was  there,  stalwart  and  storm-beaten ;  and  John,  the  spiritual ;  and 
Titus  and  Timothy  in  the  freshness  and  vigor  of  young  life.  There 
were  women  like  Phcebe,  who  had  performed  the  high  ministry  of 
bringing  Paul  at  Corinth  to  bear  on  the  metropolitan  peoples  at 
Rome ;  others  like  Lydia,  who  had  thrown  open  the  consolatory 
gates  of  the  Christian  home  to  the  apostles  of  God  in  foreign  lands : 
there  were  others  like  Mary,  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  sons,  and  her 
of  the  alabaster  box.  Among  the  laymen  there  were  men  like  the 
elders  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus,  and  Dionysius  the  Areopagite. 
with  a  number  of  elect  ladies  like  Damaris.  The  Conference  em- 
braced representatives  from  all  the  lands  of  the  globe,  and  dealt  with 
every  practical  question  involved  in  the  extension  of  Christ's  king- 
dom among  the  heathen. 

Every  great  movement  has  connected  with  it  certain  questions 
which  are  subject  to  philosophic  solution,  others  which  are  subject 
to  mathematical  solution,  and  still  other  residuary  elements  which 
yield  only  to  what  may  be  called  chemical  solution.  Perhaps  in 
this  last  respect,  more  than  in  any  other,  the  economic  effect  of  that 
meeting  will  be  felt  in  the  future  of  missionary  work. 

While  the  Ecumenical  Conference  was  in  session,  and  after  suffi- 
cient progress  had  been  made  for  the  delegates  to  grasp  something 


ORIGIN"    AND    PURPOSE    OF   THE    CONFERENCE.  5 

of  its  meaning  and  to  become  imbued  with  its  spirit,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  met  to  measure 
impressions  and  compare  views  as  to  the  great  subject  about  which 
the  Conference  was  conversant.  It  was  found  to  be  the  unanimous 
desire  of  those  present  that  a  meeting  of  similar  character,  but  of 
denominational  range,  should  be  held  at  an  early  day.  A  commit- 
tee was  appointed  to  bring  this  suggestion  before  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions at  its  annual  session  in  May.  The  Board  of  Missions  indorsed 
the  proposal  unanimously  and  with  enthusiasm,  and  appointed  an 
Executive  Committee  to  provide  for  the  holding  of  the  meeting  in 
which,  by  God's  good  providence  and  grace,  and  by  the  generous 
hospitality  of  the  Church  and  citizens  of  New  Orleans,  we  are  gath- 
ered on  this  auspicious  day. 

It  was  meet  that  the  last  year  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  only 
century  of  modern  missions,  should  witness  the  coming  together 
of  the  missionaries  from  all  the  lands  under  the  sky,  like  doves 
flocking  to  their  windows,  to  that  Ecumenical  Conference,  to  lay 
at  the  feet  of  our  Master  and  before  the  eyes  of  mankind  the 
achievements  of  a  century  of  missionary  toil.  It  is  just  as  meet  that 
the  twentieth  century  in  its  opening  hours  find  the  Methodists  of 
the  South,  whom  I  once  heard  an  able  and  generous  Presbyterian 
minister  pronounce  the  vanguard  of  the  Lord's  hosts,  assembled 
for  the  purpose  of  planning  larger  campaigns  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord.  In  a  work  of  this  kind,  if  leadership  should  be  expected  on 
doctrinal  grounds,  who  should  go  before  the  Methodists  ?  and  among 
Methodists,  who  before  us,  in  whose  blood  has  been  mingled  for 
generations  all  the  warmth  of  Southern  sunshine  ? 

The  justification  of  a  meeting  of  this  order  for  a  single  de- 
nomination is  found  in  the  fact  that,  however  great  may  have  been 
the  influence  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  and  the  volume  of 
knowledge  which  it  furnished  to  the  Church  at  large,  they  could 
not  otherwise  than  by  such  a  meeting  as  this  be  brought  within 
reach  of  the  general  membership  of  each  of  the  bodies  composing 
the  larger  gathering.  The  range  of  interests  was  too  wide  indeed. 


O  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

and  the  volume  of  knowledge  too  large,  to  be  made  available  for 
the  practical  purposes  of  denominational  work  until  focalized,  so 
to  speak,  by  the  denominational  lenses.  Moreover,  those  who  at- 
tended that  Conference  gained  a  conception,  and  enjoyed,  indeed, 
a  consciousness  of  the  majesty  and  power  of  the  modern  missionary 
movement,  such  as  they  had  never  had  before,  and  such  as  could  not 
be  derived  from  an  assembly  of  any  other  character.  They  earnestly 
desired  to  transmit  and  reproduce  this  conception  and  conscious- 
ness as  far  as  possible,  so  that  a  much  larger  number  of  their  breth- 
ren might  have  the  same  gracious  experience  and  empowering  for 
the  larger  work  which  lies  before  us. 

But  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  and  permanent  purposes  of 
this  meeting  is  one  to  which  hitherto  almost  no  attention  has  been 
given  by  our  Church.  I  refer  to  the  creation  of  a  literature  on  mis- 
sions suited  to  the  use  of  our  own  people.  It  was  seen  at  the  be- 
ginning that  we  might  through  such  a  meeting  as  this  produce 
within  one  week  a  literature  which  otherwise  we  might  not  have  for 
many  years,  and  possibly  never  in  so  definite  and  available  a  form. 
The  result,  as  already  in  the  hands  of  the  printers,  vindicates  our 
largest  hope  on  this  line,  and  gives  assurance  that  within  a  few 
weeks  we  shall  have  a  volume  in  which  will  be  found  not  only  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  great  movement,  but  in  which  will  be 
found  also  a  harmonious  presentation  of  the  various  special  themes 
which  are  engaging  the  attention  of  our  own  Church.  And  this 
survey,  unlike  that  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference,  will  include  a 
thorough  treatment  of  our  home  mission  work  and  problems,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  foreign  fields. 

Perhaps  not  the  least  valuable  feature  of  this  work  will  be  that 
arrangements  will  be  made  whereby  any  separate  paper  within  the 
volume  can  be  had  in  tractate  form  and  at  a  very  small  cost.  This 
provision  is  deemed  especially  valuable,  because  by  reason  of  it 
pastors,  Sunday  school  superintendents  and  teachers,  and  parents 
will  be  able  to  determine  by  reading  the  volume  what  paper  or 
papers  will  be  of  special  service  to  their  congregations,  schools, 


ORIGIN  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE.         7 

classes,  or  families,  and  can  obtain  the  same  in  sufficient  quantities 
at  so  small  a  cost  as  not  to  deter  them. 

It  is  Confidently  expected  that,  as  a  secondary  result  of  this  vol- 
ume, there  will  be  a  large  stimulation  of  missionary  interest  and  a 
corresponding  enlargement  in  the  use  of  other  missionary  literature. 
When  we  add  to  these  things  the  fact  that  the  treatment  which  our 
own  fields  are  to  receive  in  this  volume  will  bring  our  workers  and 
their  work  home  to  the  understanding  and  affections  of  our  people 
as  nothing  else  can  do,  we  dare  not  limit  the  spiritual  results  which 
may  come  to  our  people  from  its  proper  use. 

We  have  with  us  to-day  not  only  a  large  number  from  our  own 
communion  in  our  own  and  other  lands,  but  we  have  also  a  number 
from  other  communions  and  other  lands,  who  are  here  in  the  spirit 
of  their  Master,  to  serve  us  for  our  good  to  edification.  These  are 
all  heartily  welcomed.  The  author  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews  has 
this  social  injunction:  "Be  not  unmindful  to  entertain  strangers,  for 
thereby  some  have  entertained  angels  unawares."  We,  on  this  oc- 
casion, strike  out  the  "unawares,"  and  entertain  angels  with  knowl- 
edge and  forethought;  and,  I  trust,  also  with  knowledge  and  fore- 
thought entertain  angels. 

Finally,  brethren,  there  is  another  matter  of  supreme  concern, 
about  Which  I  would  speak  briefly  and  with  the  deepest  and  most 
grateful  reverence.  Almost  at  the  beginning  of  the  work  of  the 
Executive  Committee  in  the  organization  of  this  meeting  a  prayer 
circle  was  formed  which  rapidly  grew  until  now  there  are  probably 
thousands  who  have  daily  approached  the  throne  of  grace  for  the 
resting  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  this  assembly.  We  trust  that  God 
has  heard  these  prayers  and  that  he  will  vouchsafe  that  gracious 
guidance  in  all  we  do.  We  know,  but  possibly  do  not  sufficiently 
reflect  upon  the  truth,  that  without  him  we  can  do  nothing.  We 
know  that  even  in  our  generous  purpose  to  give  a  knowledge  of  the 
Saviour  to  our  benighted  brethren  we  shall  fail  unless  the  Spirit 
in  the  performance  of  his  promised  offices  shall  convince  the  world 
of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,  and  shall  take  of  the 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

things  of  Jesus  and  show  them  unto  us.  It  was  in  reference  to  the 
coming  and  imminence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  dispensation  that 
Jesus  uttered  those  marvelous  words  of  promise :  "He  that  believeth 
on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works 
than  these  shall  ye  do;  because  I  go  unto  my  Father."  And  he 
taxed  the  faith  and  tested  the  love  of  his  own  disciples  when  he 
said :  "It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away, 
the  Comforter  will  not  come."  May  the  presence  of  our  great  High 
Priest,  at  the  right-hand  of  the  Father,  be  perpetually  attested  by 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts  ! 

Jesus  later  said,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature;"  but  he  also  said:  "Tarry  ye  at  Jerusalem  till  ye 
be  endued  with  power  from  on  high."  If  I  should  undertake  to 
express  in  one  word  the  largest  hope  of  this  occasion  and  of  this 
cause  which  lies  so  near  our  hearts,  I  should  say  it  is  the  fuller 
enduement  of  our  Church  with  that  power  which  cometh  from 
-above.  May  God  grant  us  this,  whatever  else  he  may  withhold ! 
.  And  now  we  give  thanks  unto  the  Father,  "which  hath  made  us 
meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  who  hath 
delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  hath  translated  us  into 
the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son  :  in  whom  we  have  redemption  through 
his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins :  who  is  the  image  of  the  in- 
invisible  God,  the  firstborn  of  every  creature :  for  by  him  were  al' 
things  created,  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and 
invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities, 
or  powers :  all  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him :  and  he  is 
before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  consist :  and  he  is  the  head 
of  the  body,  the  Church  :  who  is  the  beginning,  the  firstborn  from 
the  dead ;  that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  preeminence :  for  it 
pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  fullness  dwell ;  and,  having 
made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to  reconcile  all 
things  unto  himself ;  by  him,  I  say,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth 
or  things  in  heaven.  And  you,  that  were  sometime  alienated  and 
enemies  in  your  mind  by  wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled 


ORIGIN  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE.         9 

in  the  body  of  his  flesh  through  death,  to  present  you  holy  and  un- 
blamable and  unreprovable  in  his  sight :  ...  to  whom  God 
would  make  known  what  is  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery 
among  the  Gentiles ;  which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory." 

And  may  he  by  his  Spirit  empower  us  to  make  "all  men  see  what 
is  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery,  which  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  hath  been  hid  in  God,  who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ : 
to  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  might  be  known  by  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God, 
according  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord !"  And  may  He  "of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and 
earth  is  named"  grant  us,  "according  to  the  richness  of  his  glory, 
to  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man ;  that 
Christ  may  dwell  in  our  hearts  by  faith ;  that  we,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what 
is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height;  and  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  we  might  be  filled 
with  all  the  fullness  of  God.  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  ex- 
ceeding abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the 
power  that  worketh  us.  Unto  him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Christ 
Jesus  throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end.  Amen." 


THE  GENERAL  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCE. 
"  Ye  have  not  passed  this  way  heretofore."     (Josh.  iii.  4.) 

A  NEW  century  lies  before  us  as  the  promised  land  spread  under 
the  eyes  of  Israel.  We  have  not  passed  this  way  before.  We 
shall  not  pass  this  way  again.  But  we  needs  must  pass.  We  can 
neither  remain  where  we  are  nor  turn  back.  And  not  only  is  the 
way  untried  and  the  land  unexplored,  but  rivers  "roll  between," 
tests  of  our  faith  and  valor.  By  the  side  of  Jordan  the  timid 
hesitate.  Against  every  advance  the  conservative  protest.  For 
both  Joshua  has  a  soothing  word.  The  way  is  new,  but  the  Guide 
is  old. 

Among  all  the  conferences  of  Methodism  there  had  not  been 
a  General  Missionary  Conference.  The  way  was  as  untrodden 
as  the  path  which  crossed  the  uncovered  stones  of  Jordan.  But 
the  moment  came  when  there  must  be  a  movement.  The  ark- 
had  moved.  For  sin  was  moving,  and  the  Captain  of  our  sal- 
vation will  not  be  outgeneraled.  His  forces  are  now  mobilized. 
If  we  would  remain  true  to  him,  we  must  get  in  motion.  He  is  not 
waiting  but  leading.  As  one  speaker  at  New  Orleans  tersely 
said  :  "Christ  is  in  front,  not  behind." 

The  feet  that  bear  the  ark  had  touched  the  Jordan.  The  sum- 
mer flood  of  Boxer  rage,  Japanese  scorn,  and  Catholic  intoler- 
ance was  brimming  above,  stayed  by  an  almighty  Hand.  The 
word  went  down  the  line  :  "When  ye  see  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord  your  God,  .  .  .  then  shall  ye  remove  from  your 
place,  and  go  after  it."  Such  was  the  warrant  for  the  Confer- 
ence which  gathered  at  New  Orleans  on  April  24,  1901,  and  con- 
tinued its  meetings  seven  days.  We  were  led  along  untried  ways, 
but  the  ark  went  before.  It  will  be  well  if  all  the  tribes  of  our 
Israel  awake  to  the  fact  that  God  is  in  advance  of  his  Church. 
We  have  asked  him  for  open  doors,  and  the  doors  are  off  their 
hinges.  To  our  prayer  for  more  laborers  he  has  replied  with  the 
host  of  student  volunteers.  We  now  are  brought  to  the  test.  He 
has  done  his  part ;  are  we  ready  for  ours? 

Interdenominational  conventions  in  the  interest  of  missions 
had  often  been  held.  The  last  and  greatest  of  these  was  in  New 
York  in  April  of  1900.  The  meeting  at  New  Orleans  appears  to 


PROCEEDINGS.  II 

be  the  first  representing  a  single  denomination — a  whole  denomi- 
nation. Perhaps  it  will  not  be  the  last.  It  grew  out  of  the  New 
York  Conference,  as  is  set  forth  in  the  preceding  pages  by  Dr. 
Atkins.  As  he  explains  how  it  came  to  be,  we  give  a  few  pages 
to  the  history  of  it  as  it  was.  The  papers  and  addresses  delivered 
constitute  the  body  of  this  volume.  These  have  been  re- 
arranged from  the  programme  into  a  few  simple  and  natural 
groups.  Returning  to  the  daily  order,  we  offer  here  a  brief  minute 
of  the  Conference  itself.  It  met  in  Tulane  Hall,  which  has  space 
for  about  two  thousand  people.  Back  of  the  platform  was  the 
great  map  of  the  world  which  had  hung  in  Carnegie  Hall,  the 
generous  loan  of  Mr.  W.  Henry  Grant,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  Grant  was  present  at 
the  Conference  where  his  unaffected  manners,  wide  information, 
and  deeply  Christian  spirit  endeared  him  to  all.  The  Hall  had 
been  tastefully  decorated  by  the  local  committee  of  arrangements 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Carre.  The  membership  of  the 
Conference  was  one  thousand  and  ninety.  Of  these,  about  nine 
hundred  were  present,  and  perhaps  a  thousand  visitors. 

PROCEEDINGS. 
FIRST  DAY,  WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  24. 

The  opening  day  was  given  to  a  consideration  of  the  "Spir- 
itual Basis  of  Missions."  After  the  introductory  paper  by  Dr. 
James  Atkins,  Editor  of  Sunday  School  Literature  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  Chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Conference,  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
guests,  Rev.  Alexander  Sutherland  D.D.,  of  Toronto,  Canada, 
opened  its  discussions  with  a  weighty  address  on  "Oneness  in 
Christ."  Dr.  Sutherland  has  been  Missionary  Secretary  of  his 
Church  since  1874, -and  for  eighteen  years  editor  of  the  Missionary 
Outlook.  He  was  especially  active  in  promoting  the  union  of  the 
various  bodies  of  Methodists  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  a  result 
happily  consummated  in  1883.  He  was  in  1871  a  fraternal  del- 
egate to  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  1881  a  delegate  to  the  Ecumenical  Methodist  Confer- 
ence, in  1886  a  fraternal  delegate  to  the  British  Wesleyan  Con- 
ference, and  in  1894  fraternal  delegate  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  This  wide  ex- 
perience gave  horizon  to  his  views  and  weight  to  his  words. 


12  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Conference  heard  Bishop  J.  C.  Gran- 
bery,  D.D.,  on  the  "Great  Commission,"  and  Dr.  John 
Fox  on  the  "Bible  and  Missions."  Dr.  Fox  is  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  a  Presbyterian. 
The  indebtedness  of  all  mission  workers  in  all  lands  to  the  great 
Bible  Societies,  so  universally  recognized,  gave  him  a  very  warm 
welcome.  His  address  was  in  part  a  vigorous  vindication  of  mis- 
sions in  Roman  Catholic  lands,  and  was  altogether  worthy  of  the 
fundamental  theme  with  which  it  dealt.  The  night  session 
was  given  to  the  treatment  of  another  great  subject  by  one  who 
has  an  unquestioned  right  to  be  heard  on  it.  Rev.  James  M. 
Thoburn,  D.D.,  Missionary  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  India  and  Malaysia,  preached  on  the  "Agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  Missions."  Bishop  Thoburn  has  been  an  active  mis- 
sionary in  India  for  more  than  forty  years.  His  books  have  won 
the  hearts  of  thousands  of  readers  in  all  the  Churches.  He  is 
characterized  by  the  true  missionary's  readiness  to  reduce  all 
theories  to  the  test  of  practical  results.  He  reports  that  he  was 
somewhat  surprised  and  dismayed  when  the  first  lady  mission- 
aries— one  of  them  his  sister — came  to  work  in  India.  But  the 
results  of  their  work  convinced  him  that  it  was  of  God,  and  wom- 
an's work  has  now  no  more  hearty  champion.  A  Methodist  him- 
self, he  was  easily  at  home  in  a  Methodist  Conference,  to  which 
he  contributed  this  opening  sermon  and  later  a  paper  on  "Wom- 
an's Work." 

SECOND  DAY,  THURSDAY,  APRIL  25. 

Foreign  Missions  very  properly  held  the  place  of  honor  and 
engaged  the  Conference  during  the  second  day.  By  way  of  gen- 
eral consideration  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix  dealt  with  the  "Ade- 
quacy of  Christianity  to  Meet  the  World's  Need" — a  need  most 
graphically  sketched  the  previous  evening  by  Bishop  Thoburn. 
Dr.  J.  H.  Pritchett,  one  of  the  Missionary  Secretaries,  traced  the 
relation  between  "Methodism  and  the  Modern  Missionary  Move- 
ment," and  Prof.  O.  E.  Brown,  of  Vanderbilt  University,  defined 
the  "Aim  and  Scope  of  Foreign  Missions."  Then  four  phases  of 
the  work  itself  were  presented  in  rapid  succession  by  those  who 
are  engaged  in  it.  "Evangelistic  Work"  was  the  theme  of  Rev. 
J.  W.  Tarboux,  of  Brazil,  where  he  has  had  fourteen  years'  ex- 
perience ;  Rev.  George  B.  Winton,  connected  with  the  mission  in 
Mexico  since  1888,  spoke  on  "Literary  Work:"  Dr.  W.  H.  Park, 


PROCEEDINGS.  13 

of  China,  effectively  set  forth  the  advantages  of  "Medical  Work;" 
and  a  vigorous  paper  on  "Educational  Work,"  sent  by  Rev.  S.  H. 
Wainright,  M.D.,  from  Japan,  was  read  by  his  colleague,  Rev. 
W.  A.  Wilson.  An  interesting  incident  was  the  introduction  to 
the  Conference  of  Mr.  B.  G.  Tsang,  a  young  Chinese  gentleman 
and  friend  of  Dr.  Park.  He  made  a  brief  address  and  presented 
to  each  of  the  delegates  a  brochure  on  the  evils  of  the  opium  habit 
compiled  by  Dr.  Park. 

After  the  reading  of  the  papers  on  mission  work,  Rev.  W.  E. 
Edwards,  D.D.,  made  an  address  on  the  "Duty  of  the  Pastorate." 
With  this  day  also  began  what  proved  to  be  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  Conference  proceedings,  the  daily  devotional  half  hour. 
The  Committee  on  Programme  had  sought  to  honor  God  by 
taking  this  half  hour  at  the  choicest  moment  of  the  day,  from 
half  past  eleven  to  twelve.  Dr.  F.  Howard  Taylor  and  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Geraldine  Guinness  Taylor,  were  present  as  leaders.  Both 
are  missionaries  by  birth,  and  also  by  voluntary  choice.  In  their 
work  in  the  China  Inland  Mission — conducted  by  Dr.  Taylor's 
honored  father — they  have  known  hardships  and  persecution  and 
danger,  on  more  than  one  occasion  flying  for  their  lives.  But 
they  hatve  also  known  the  joy  of  labors  blessed  and  of  walking 
with  their  Master.  Being  in  the  United  States  on  furlough,  they 
agreed  to  come  to  New  Orleans  to  lead  the  daily  devotions  of  the 
Conference.  So  wisely  did  they  select  their  scripture  themes, 
and  so  graciously  were  their  prayers  and  those  of  five  thousand 
other  Christians  who  had  given  their  names  in  a  prayer  cycle, 
honored  by  the  Head  of  the  Church,  that  these  half  hours  were  o 
feast  which  grew  richer  day  by  day. 

In  the  evening  Dr.  John  Franklin  Goucher  spoke  on  "Missions 
and  Education."  Dr.  Goucher  is  President  of  the  Woman's  Col- 
lege, Baltimore,  and  a  man  of  catholic  sympathies  and  broad 
culture.  He  has  traveled  extensively,  and  found  Christian  mis- 
sions in  various  parts  of  the  world  worth  investing  in.  He  and 
his  wife  sustain  a  large  number  of  village  schools  in  India  con- 
nected with  the  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Reliable  estimates  give  as  the  direct  result  of  those  schools  fifty 
thousand  members  added  to  the  Church.  The  enterprise  of  a 
great  university  with  its  center  in  the  Soochow  college  appealed  to 
him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  subscribed  $1,000  during  the  Con- 
ference to  help  found  it. 

After  him  Rev.  Young  J.  Allen.  D.D..  spoke  on  the  situation 


14  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

in  China.  He  has  been  in  China  since  1859.  Forced  to  sustain 
himself  during  the  disturbances  incident  to  the  civil  war,  he  se- 
cured employment  from  the  Chinese  government,  and  acquired 
a  skill  in  handling  the  language  and  in  dealing  with  people  of  the 
official  classes  that  has  since  stood  him  in  good  stead.  For  many 
years  he  has  been  a  leading  figure  in  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion 
of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge,  and  the  editor  of  its  chief 
periodical  in  Chinese.  He  wrote  a  widely  circulated  "History  of 
the  War  between  China  and  Japan,"  and  is  in  close  touch  with 
the  progressive  element  of  the  Chinese  people.  His  elucidation 
of  the  situation  in  the  Orient  will  be  found  clear  and  full. 

THIRD  DAY,  FRIDAY,  APRIL  26. 

This  day  was  given  up  to  the  discussion  of  Domestic  or  Home 
Missions,  as  was  also  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  present  deals  with  the 
problem  of  evangelizing  sparsely  settled  rural  populations  and 
crowded  city  "slums,"  almost  wholly  through  local  or  Conference 
organizations.  The  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society  is  con- 
nectional,  but  has  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  the  way  of  min- 
isterial supply.  The  rapid  development  of  urban  population  in 
the  South  seems  to  demand  a  more  connected  and  aggressive 
policy. 

The  vexed  "race  problem"  came  in  for  its  share  of  attention 
during  the  afternoon.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  if  there  were 
only  Christian  negroes  to  be  dealt  with  and  Christian  whites  were 
in  control  of  affairs,  social  and  political,  there  would  be  no  race 
problem.  President  Booker  Washington  was  welcomed  to  the 
platform  where  sat  the  bishops  and  other  leaders  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  sympathetically  heard  by  an 
audience  which  crowded  the  house.  He  delivered  an  impas- 
sioned and  effective  address,  of  which  the  printed  extracts  give 
no  adequate  conception.  He  was  among  friends  and  felt  it,  and 
so  spoke  out  of  a  full  heart. 

The  feature  of  the  evening  hour  was  the  address  of  the  Hon. 
John  Barrett.  Mr.  Barrett  was  appointed  Minister  to  Siam  by 
President  Cleveland  in  1894,  when  only  twenty-seven  years  of 
age.  He  was  retained  by  Mr.  McKinley  for  nearly  two  years, 
resigning  in  1898.  He  joined  Admiral  Dewey  at  Hongkong 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish  war,  and  was  with  him  at 
Manila  Bay.  He  is  a  well-known  writer  and  speaker,  and  bore 


PROCEEDINGS.  15 

unequivocal  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  work  of  missionaries  in 
the  East.  After  him  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  gave  a  lumi- 
nous and  inspiring  presentation  of  "The  Missionary  Idea." 

FOURTH  DAY,  SATURDAY,  APRIL  27. 

This  was  Woman's  Day.  Ladies  occupied  the  chair  and  the 
platform.  Foreign  work  took  up  the  morning  hour,  Mrs.  M. 
D.  Wightman  presiding,  and  work  at  home  the  afternoon  with 
Miss  Mary  Helm,  editor  of  Our  Homes,  in  the  chair.  Mrs.  S.  C. 
Trueheart,  the  Secretary  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety, gave  a  review  of  its  work  and  field;  and  Miss  Bennett, 
President  of  the  Home  Board,  spoke  for  its  Work.  Lady  mis- 
sionaries were  heard  on  Medical  Work  and  Bible  women,  and 
Education  and  Literature  were  presented  by  Miss  Gibson  and 
Mrs.  Hammond.  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
sumers' League  of  New  York,  made  an  address  on  "Our  Foreign 
and  Factory  Population,"  and  at  night  Miss  Jane  Addams,  of  the 
Hull  House,  Chicago,  spoke  on  "Social  Settlements."  This  lat- 
ter address,  much  to  our  regret,  we  have  been  unable  to  secure 
for  publication.  It  made  a  profound  impression  when  delivered. 
No  speaker  present  at  the  Conference  was  heard  with  more  pleas- 
ure than  this  gifted  lady. 

FIFTH  DAY,  SUNDAY,  APRIL  28. 

Delegates  and  visitors  to  the  Conference  occupied  many  of  the 
leading  pulpits  of  New  Orleans  at  the  morning  hour,  and  in  the 
afternoon  Mr.  Mott  conducted  a  devotional  "Quiet  Hour"  at  the 
Carondelet  Street  Methodist  Church,  while  a  Sunday  school  rally 
addressed  by  visiting  missionaries  was  held  at  Tulane  Hall.  In 
the  evening  there  was  a  brief  address  on  the  proposed  Soochow 
University  by  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  who  had  just  arrived  from 
China.  He  was  followed  by  Bishop  C.  B.  Galloway  in  an  elo- 
quent setting  forth  of  "Lessons  from  Master  Missionaries."  A 
spontaneous  and  unsolicited  collection  was  actually  thrust  upon 
the  speaker  for  establishing  the  Soochow  University.  There 
was  one  gift  of  $5,000,  several  of  $1,000,  and  a  number  of  $500, 
among  these  the  offering  of  a  Chinese  gentleman  (not  a  Chris- 
tian) who  was  present.  The  Chinese  of  the  city  of  Soochow  have 
pledged  $25,000.  The  whole  collection  at  New  Orleans,  amount- 
ing in  one  evening  to  $50,150,  was  the  largest  single  collection 
for  missions  known  in  the  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South. 


l6  GENERAL  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCE. 

SIXTH  DAY,  MONDAY,  APRIL  29. 

The  relation  of  the  young  people  of  the  Church  to  missions 
occupied  the  Conference  on  Monday.  Dr.  James  Atkins,  the 
leader  of  the  Sunday  school  work,  and  Dr.  H.  M.  Du  Bose,  the 
Epworth  League  Secretary  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  were 
ably  seconded  in  the  discussions  by  Dr.  E.  E.  Hoss,  editor  of  the 
Christian  Advocate  (Nashville),  Mr.  John  R.  Pepper,  a  layman  of 
Memphis,  member  of  the  International  Sunday  School  Lesson 
Committee,  and  Dr.  A.  C.  Millar,  President  of  Hendrix  College, 
representing  their  own  Church,  while  Mr.  John  R.  Mott,  Rev. 
Earl  Taylor,  and  Miss  Belle  Brain  came  with  a  gracious  message 
from  without  its  bounds.  Miss  Brain  is  a  Presbyterian,  and  her 
home  is  in  Ohio.  She  is  well  known  through  her  bright  books, 
"The  Transformation  of  Hawaii"  and  "Fuel  for  Missionary 
Fires."  Rev.  S.  Earl  Taylor,  with  Bishop  Thoburn,  Mr.  Game- 
well,  and  Dr.  Goucher,  were  the  representatives  in  the  Conference 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Taylor  is  Field  Secre- 
tary of  the  Missionary  Society  of  that  Church,  and  Secretary  of 
the  Student  Missionary  Campaign.  Mr.  John  R.  Mott  is  one  of 
the  Secretaries  of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Secretary  of  the  World's  Student 
Christian  Federation,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  a  welcome  and  helpful 
speaker  at  any  gathering  of  Christian  workers.  His  two  ad- 
dresses at  Xew  Orleans  are  a  worthy  addition  to  his  previously 
published  utterances  on  the  important  themes  with  which  they 
deal.  The  services  of  Mr.  Gamewell  as  engineer  in  charge  of  the 
defenses  of  the  British  Legation  during  the  seige  at  Peking  were 
such  as  called  out  letters  of  commendation  from  the  English 
Government.  Nothing  during  the  Conference  made  a  deeper 
impression  than  his  modest  account  of  that  awful  five  weeks. 

SEVENTH  DAY,  TUESDAY,  APRIL  30. 

The  last  day  of  the  Conference  narrowed  its  discussions  again 
to  denominational  lines,  and  the  several  fields  in  which  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  has  work  were  passed  in  swift 
review.  And  while  the  view  point  was  that  of  the  denomination, 
the  vision  was  world-wide.  All  Spanish-America  especially  ap- 
peals to  this  Church.  The  Secretaries  of  the  Mission  Board  cal- 
culate, however,  that  in  the  fields  already  occupied  by  it  this 


PROCEEDINGS.  17 

branch  of  Methodism  is  done  responsible  for  fifty  million  souls. 
"i  he  notable  paper  of  the  closing  day  was  that  of  Rev.  \\ .  R. 
Lambuth,  D.D.,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Board,  on  "Policy 
and  Outlook."  Dr.  Lambuth  is  the  son  of  a  missionary,  and  \va* 
born  in  China.  He  has  been  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions 
for  seme  ten  years  past,  and  is  the  recognized  leader  of  this  work 
in  his  Church.  His  paper  is  the  fruit  of  these  years  of  study  and 
observation,  and  will  carry  much  weight  in  determining  the  fu- 
ture policy  of  his  Board. 

All  the  other  papers  of  the  closing  day  will  be  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  including  the  addresses  of  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson 
and  Dr.  C.  F.  Reid  on  the  situation  in  China. 

INCIDENTS. 

The  introduction  of  the  venerable  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  so  long 
and  universally  loved  as  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  New  Orleans,  gave  him  occasion  for  a  most  brotherly  and 
devout  utterance.  After  mentioning  briefly  the  wonderful  op- 
portunities placed  before  the  Church  in  the  opening  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  he  said  :  "All  this  is  for  our  joy  and  comfort ;  but.  broth- 
ers, does  not  the  Church  now  require,  in  a  degree  far  beyond 
what  we  have  ever  yet  enjoyed,  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Ghost?  I  feel  that  if  all  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  could 
only  enjoy  just  now  such  an  outpouring  as  we  had  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  it  would  be  ready  almost  for  the  millennium,  and 
might  speedily  expect  the  coming  of  our  blessed  Lord,  when  he 
shall  reign  King  of  the  nations  as  he  is  King  of  the  saints,  and 
shall  wear  before  the  assembled  universe  his  many  crowns  uprr. 
his  head.  And  the  thought  has  been  struggling  in  my  mind  ever 
since  vou  have  been  here,  seeking  for  proper  expression,  whether 
it  would  not  be  a  meet  and  fit  tiring  for  thi~  ContVi-ence  °-1  this 
the  last  day  of  its  session  to  prepare  r  brief  paper  in  which  it  >hould 
call  unon  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  the  Chu"Hi  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  are  to  assemble  durin?"  thi-  spring,  to  bring  all  the  influ- 
ence which  these  courts  n^rsess  to  bear  r.p°n  '.he  hearts  of  their 
people,  scattered  all  thn  i'e'h  this  land,  rallving  tlir-m  t^  thi*  '~me 
crcat  purpose  and  this  one  single  thought :  that  thev  will  nrav 
and  continue  to  nrav  for  tb^  Pentecost  until  it  shall  come;  laving 
it  upon  tS"  berrts  of  our  Christian  families,  in  their  faniilv  devo- 
tion? to  embalm  in  their  ordinary  supplication?,  in  -b."  verv  hear* 
of  their  nraver?.  a  reaver  for  th?  cominp'  of  the  TTo1--  Dbocf  u^o-i 


l8  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

the  Church.  I  close  with  just  a  sentence.  We  have  been  praying, 
all  of  us,  long,  and  I  trust  fervently,  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world.  Let  us  during  the  remaining  months  of  this  year  pray  for 
the  conversion  of  the  Church,  bringing  her  back  to  her  former 
bearings,  to  stand  as  she  used  to  stand,  upon  the  great  principles 
of  Christian  doctrine  and  of  Christian  practice.  Let  us  have 
once  more  a  genuine  revival  in  the  Church  of  God,  by  whatever 
instrumentality  it  shall  be  brought  about;  and  I  think  we  will 
have  introduced  then  the  greatest  factor  that  can  be  found  in  the 
conversion  of  the  world." 

Rev.  J.  C.  Keener,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  venerated  senior  bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  now  retired,  lives  at  New 
Orleans,  and  Was  able  to  attend  many  of  the  sessions  of  the  Con- 
ference. On  the  last  day,  in  response  to  some  words  of  Bishop 
Hendrix  presenting  him  with  a  historic  cane,  he  made  a  brief 
address  quite  in  his  old-time  vein  for  pith  and  force.  After  re- 
ferring gently  to  having  put  off  his  armor  and  retired  from  the 
firing  line,  he  commented  on  some  phases  of  the  Church's  work 
in  words  of  fatherly  counsel.  There  was  a  tearful  hush  in  the 
great  assembly  as  he  closed :  "I  rejoice  in  God  for  this  wonderful 
meeting.  Nothing  human  is  perfect,  but  this  comes  very  near  it. 
Its  fragrance  will  go  out  and  on  forever.  I  am  happy  to  have 
been  here.  In  conclusion  I  must  ask  your  prayers  for  my  sup- 
port, spiritually.  I  go  to  bed  not  knowing  where  I  shall  wake, 
except  that  I  believe  it  will  be  in  the  best  of  regions.  I  trust  you 
will  pray  for  me,  as  I  shall  continue  to  pray  for  you." 

RESULTS. 

The  Conference  was  successful  beyond  all  that  its  promoters 
had  dared  to  hope.  A  gracious  spirit  of  unity  pervaded  all  its 
utterances.  Its  members  felt  a  distinct  and  ever-present  con- 
sciousness of  the  anointing  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.  The  personal 
experience  of  every  delegate  was  enriched,  and  a  great  impulse 
given  to  individual  work  in  soul-winning.  The  Conference  bids 
fair  not  only  to  promote  a  fresh  interest  in  the  work  of  missions, 
but  also  a  forward  movement  in  the  Church  itself.  While  these 
lines  are  penned  letters  are  pouring  into  the  office  of  the  Mission- 
ary Secretaries  telling  of  vigorous  campaigns  in  favor  of  prayer 
and  personal  work  and  Christian  giving  that  are  in  prosecution 
throughout  the  whole  Church. 


PROCEEDINGS.  19 

As  a  matter  of  course,  however,  foreign  missions  as  such 
will  reap  the  largest  harvest.  The  missionaries  present  earnestly 
seized  the  opportunity  to  put  the  great  gathering  of  representa- 
tive brethren  into  touch  with  their  fields.  There  was  no  posing 
as  heroes,  nor  any  faint  note  of  possible  defeat.  On  the  con- 
trary, these  "angels"  of  the  Churches  gave  the  glory  to  their 
Lord,  and  jubilantly  told  of  his  past  victories  and  of  his  assured 
and  early  triumph.  In  addition  to  the  utterances  from  the  plat- 
form, the  Exhibit  spoke  an  eloquent  message,  and  the  maps  and 
charts  brought  home  most  graphically  our  duty  and  our  oppor- 
tunity. 

Most  significant  of  all,  and  in  value  far  above  the  liberal  contri- 
bution of  money,  about  fifty  choice  young  men  and  women  of 
those  present  offered  themselves  as  willing  to  go  where  needed. 
This  result  of  the  Conference  reacted  powerfully  on  the  spirit  of 
the  meeting  itself.  Both  offerings  are  no  more  than  a  begin- 
ning— >the  first  fruits  of  the  ingathering  yet  to  come. 

The  searching  utterances  of  the  speakers,  the  singular  oneness 
of  the  sentiments  they  expressed,  the  high  tide  of  spiritual  fervor, 
the  great  offering,  the  choice  group  of  candidates  for  work,  and 
the  profound  interest  aroused  throughout  the  Church  by  the 
Conference,  have  caused  wise  and  conservative  leaders  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  to  describe  this  as  the  great- 
est gathering  in  the  history  of  that  Church.  All  glory  to  Him 
who  is  the  Head !  "For  He  is  worthy."  And  may  He  vouchsafe 
still  the  gift  of  His  truth-revealing  Spirit,  to  make  this  published 
record  of  the  Conference  and  its  utterances  fruitful  in  the  salva- 
tion of  souls ! 


THE  S  TUD  T  OF  MISSIONS. 

"Almost  every  student  has — /  venture  to  think  every  student 
ought  to  have — a  Trapepyov,  a  side  -jcork  in  vi'hich  he  finds  an  altera- 
tive that  is  at  once  recreative  and  profitable.  I  submit  to  vou  that 
in  the  study  of  missions  von  will  find  a  vdpepyov  the  most  benefi- 
cial and  fruitful  you  can  conceive.  Let  me  just  mention — and  I 
cannot  do  more  than  mention — some  of  the  benefits.  (/)  A.  con- 
tinual quickening  of  faith  in  the  present  personal  reign  of  Jeszis 
at  the  right-hand  of  God.  Ton  arc  made  to  feel  that  yon  are  liv- 
ing once  more  in  the  days  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  (2)  A 
calling  forth  and  consequent  deepening  and  broadening'  of  the 
best  sympathies  of  a  Christian  heart.  It  really  means  being- 
brought  more  under  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  (j)  A 
ratifying-  of  faith  in  the  great  evangelical  truths  held  by  the 
Protestant  catholic  ChurcJi.  TJicy  arc  vividly  illustrated  and 
attested  in  the  conversions  from  heathenism  to  Christ.  (4)  A 
confirmation  of  faith  in  the  JJible  as  the  Word  of  God.  We  arc- 
exposed  at  this  time  to  the  influences  of  a  criticism  vchich  is  dili- 
g-cntly  eliminating  the  J-folv  Spirit  from  all  connection  tvith  the 

tj  ~-  <„>  -L  ~> 

Scriptures  ;  but  foreign  missions  arc  perpetually  and  increas- 
ingly demonstrating  the  spiritual  puvccr  of  the  Bible  as  a  divine 
revelation  of  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life  for  all  mankind. 
(j"  j  Incitation  to  prayer,  and  especially  to  the  most  precious  serv- 
ice tJiat  ~i'c  can  render  in  prayer  ^  the  service  of  intercession.  jF~or 
the  study  »f  missions  is  like  a  matching  from  the  mountain  l»f> 

^/  O      ^/ 

of  the  battle  with  Amalek,  and  constrains  to  the  holding  up  />j  ///r 
promises  by  praying  hands  under  a  sense  of  spiritual  comrade- 
ship. (6)  inspiration  to  personal  service,  f'.r  the  fuller  vision 


I. 

MISSIONS. 


I.  THE  FOUNDATION 

II.  EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 

III.  MEDICAL  WORK. 

IV.  LITERARY  WORK. 
V.  WOMAN'S  WORK. 

VI.  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 

VII.  FROM  VARIOUS  STANDPOINTS. 


Section  I. 

THE  FOUNDATION. 


THE  AIM  AND  SCOPE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

O.    E.    BROWN,    VANDERBILT   UNIVERSITY. 

THE  Book  of  Acts  is  our  first  great  history  of  Christian  mis- 
sions. Its  opening  words  furnish  a  profound  suggestion  toward 
a  philosophy  of  missions.  When  Luke  says  that  in  his  former 
treatise,  his  Gospel,  he  wrote  of  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  Christ  and 
and  to  teach  until  the  day  that  he  was  taken  up,  he  clearly  implies  missions, 
that  in  Acts  he  proposes  to  write  of  all  that  Jesus  continued  both  to 
do  and  to  teach  after  that  he  was  taken  up.  He  thus  regards  the 
work  of  primitive  missions  as  in  vital  continuity  with  Christ's  in- 
carnate ministry.  \The  personal  ministry  of  Jesus  did  not  cease 
with  his  ascension,  but  by  his  living  Spirit  he  carries  forward  the 
same  work  which,  during  the  days  of  his  earthly  sojourn,  he  in- 
augurated.) For  Luke  there  is  no  break  in  the  continuity  of  our 
Lord's  life  work.  By  his  spiritual  presence  and  activity  he  enters 
more  vitally  and  intensely  into  the  life  and  history  of  mankind 
than  when  under  the  limitations  of  the  flesh.  The  work  of  Chris- 
tian missions  is  thus  none  other  than  the  earthly  side  of  the  pres- 
ent ministry  of  our  unseen  and  enthroned  Lord.  There  can, 
therefore,  be  no  other  infallible  clew  to  the  aim  of  missions  than 
that  afforded  by  the  ruling  purpose  of  Christ's  own  redemptive 
ministry.  The  aim  of  mission's  cannot  be  lower  than  the  best 
blessing  which  Jesus  has  for  the  personal  life,  nor  than  the  high- 
est good  which  he  seeks  to  realize  in  the  social  life  of  humanity. 
This  rule  is  of  very  decided  importance,  for  the  most  vital  step  in 
framing  a  science  of  missions  consists  in  determining  the  aim  of 
missions. 

It  is  well  in  beginning  to  apply  this  principle  in  excluding  cer- 
tain mistaken  ideas  as  to  the  true  aim  of  foreign  missions.     The 
work  of  Christian  missions,  first  of  all,  is  not  simply  one  of  chari- 
ty.     To  class  missions  among  the  ''official  benevolences"  of  the  ty. 
Church,  rather  suggests  that  their  work  is  simply  one  of  the  many 


24 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Hor  merely  an 
ethical  move- 
ment. 


rival  claimants  upon  the  humane  sympathies  of  Christian  people. 
If  this  be  true,  then  the  clamant  cries  of  want  and  distress  at  our 
very  doors  will  "likely  leave  the  far  call  for  help  from  across  the 
seas  to  be  but  very  faintly  heard.  Foreign  mission  work  is  by  no 
means  on  a  level  coordinate  with  the  work  for  the  submerged  and 
pauper  classes  at  home.  Jesus  did  administer  charities,  but  he 
deliberately  forfeited  his  large  popularity  by  a  stern  refusal  to  be  a 
bread  king.  It  is  true  that  Jesus's  miracles  were  largely  works 
of  mercy,  and  that  the  tests  of  the  final  judgment  are  chosen  by 
him  trom  the  realm  of  humane  benevolences;  but  it  is  also  true 
that  these  things  touch  only  the  outer  conditions  and  not  the  in- 
ner spirit  of  the  life,  and  the  marked  note  of  Jesus's  ministry  was 
its  inwardness.  He  sought  to  concentrate  the  anxieties  ofthe  hu- 
man heart,  first  of  all,  on  getting  possession  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness.  So,  while  works  of  mercy  and  chari- 
ly fall  within  the  scope  of  missions,  they  do  not  constitute  the  de- 
termining aim  of  missions.  Missionary  work  has  been  placed 
by  Christ  on  a  much  more  abiding  and  spiritual  basis  than  that  of 
feeding  the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked  and  housing  the  shel- 
terless. There  is  a  living  bread  of  which  if  any  man  eat  he  shall 
live  forever;  there  is  a  lifeblood  of  which  if  any  man  partake  he 
shall  have  eternal  life.  Christ  and  Christian  missions  regard  the 
man  as  more  than  all  of  his  circumstances,  and  they  do  not  work 
chiefly  to  make  a  new  environment  for  the  man,  but  to  make  the 
man  himself  a  new  creature.  Indifference  to  missions  is  a  vastly 
deeper  crime  than  the  withholding  of  bread  from  the  starving,  or 
the  denial  of  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  famishing. 

'  Again,  the  missionary  movement  is  not  simply  an  ethical  move- 
ment.    Christ  is  vastly  more  than  an  ethical  teacher  or  a  moral 
reformer.     He  does  not  merely  enter  the  lists  against    IJuddha 
and  Confucius  in  an  effort  toward  framing  an  ideal  code  of  per- 
sonal ethics  or  a  perfect  programme  of  social  order.      His  diagno- 
sis of  human  disorder  gave  back  the  verdict  that  man's  primary 
iced  is  not  so  much  a  new  system  of  morr.l  doctrines  as  a  new 
•up]>ly  (if  spiritual   motive   forces.'-..  Kven   though   Confucius   be 
ov.nd  to  have  had  real  genius  in  the  realm  of  social  ethics,  or 
luddha  to  have  discovered  the  grx-at  moral  law  of  dving  in  order 
o  live,  it  does  not  follow  that  Confucian  or  Buddhist  lands  do  not 
"iced  the  blessings  which  it  is  the  distinctive  province  of  Christian 
'nissions   to   bestow,,'    It   is   not   erhical   formulas   but   moral   p.nd 

.      Eve::  the 


THE    AIM    AND    SCOPE    OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  25 

teaching  of  the  ethical  and  historical  contents  of  the  Bible  cannot 
satisfy  the  vital  and  cardinal  aim  of  missions.  Christ  came  to  un- 
veil the  deepest  secret  of  the  heart  of  God  to  the  deepest  hunger  oi 
the  heart  of  man.  He  came  to  make  the  infinite  love  of  God  con- 
sciously available  for  the  all  but  infinite  need  of  man.  v Christian 
missions  are  primarily  religious  in  their  aim.  Their  aim  is  to  put 
morals  on  a  religious  basis  ;  to  reunite  morality  and  religion,  which 
God  hath  joined  together  but  man  has  so  shamelessly  put  asun- 
der. The  glory  of  Christian  missions  is  not  only  that  they  lift  the  • 
moral  standards  of  the  nations  to  the  highest  level,  but  that  they 
also  sanctify  human  duties  as  divine  commands.  Their  aim  is  so 
to  enlighten  and  fill  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  truth  and  love  or 
GocJ.  that  the  keeping  of  his  hoi}'  commandments  shall  no-t  be 
found  grievous.  Jji 

While  thus  it  is  true  that  the  aim  of  mis'sions  is  religious,  it  re-  n0r  primarily 
mains  to  be  said  that  their  primary  aim  is  not  denominational. 
V\'e  are  learning  in  our  day,  and  it  is  another  of  the  glories  of  for- 
eign missions  to  have  taught  us  the  lesson,  that  denominations 
exist  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  by  no  means  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  for  any  one  denomination.  There  is  a  growing  feeling 
that  the  fundamental  Christianity  which  the  great  evangelical  de- 
nomination's hold  in  common  is  reallv  more  vital  and  essential 
than  the  peculiarities  of  doctrine  and  the  niceties  of  forms  where- 
by they  are  made  to  differ.  The  Christian  world  is  coming  to 
feel  the  truth  of  Wesley's  sentiment  :  "The  whole  world  will  nev- 
er be  converted  except  by  those  of  a  truly  catholic  spirit."  The 
spirit  of  Christian  comity  is  the  spirit  of  missions.  The  aim  of 
missions  must  primarily  have  to  do  with  the  spread  of  Christianity 
in  its  simplest  and  most  truly  essential  form.  Our  creeds  have 
grown  tip  out  of  vital  controversies  and  experiences,  but  to  im- 
pose them,  full  formed  in  the  first  instance,  upon  others  is  to 
teach  them  to  respect  Christian  formularies  raiher  than  to  live 
Christian  lives.  The  onlv  true  creed  is  the  cn-ed  of  providential 
growth  and  life.  (  )ur  forms  of  Church  government  are  the  out- 
growth of  our  racial  and  social  characteristics,  and  to  impose 
tnese  upon  others  as  essential  is  to  make  of  Christi?nitv  an  ethieai 
faith  and  not  a  universal  and  spiritual  religion.  Our  turn:-  of 
worship  have  in  them  both  incidental  and  essentiai  elements,  '.;••' 
to  put  the  weight  of  emphasis  on  the  incidentals  will  make  of  men 
more  r/raying  machines,  and  not  woiVnipers  of  ( rod  in  spirit  an<! 
in  truth.  Christ's  law  of  self-sacrifice  and  self-effacement  applio  ; 


26 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


7 1  e  aim  the 
creation  of  a 
new  humani- 
ty. 


Personal  aim. 


life  for  the  Master's  sake  shall  save  it,  and  he  that  seeks  to  save 
his  own  life  shall  lose  it.  In  the  great  work  of  world  evangeliza- 
tion, narrow  sectarianism  carries  its  own  death  sentence  plainly 
written  in  its  very  constitution.  Yet  denominational  missionary 
organizations  have  done  the  most  abiding  and  thoroughgoing 
missionary  work.  Independent  missions  are  not  necessarily  freer 
from  peculiarities  and  eccentricities  than  those  under  denomina- 
tional control.  Indeed,  the  separate  work  often  argues  the  pres- 
ence rather  than  the  absence  of  eccentric  features.  The  point 
needing  emphasis  is  that  our  denominational  machinery  is  to  be 
used  to  guide  and  to  minister  to  our  missionary  Churches,  and 
not  to  mold  them  into  artificial,  lifeless  images  of  ourselves.  Our 
forms  are  useful  for  suggestion  and  inspiration.  They  are  help- 
ful in  so  far,  and  only  in  so  far,  as  they  promote  the  highest  and 
freest  spiritual  life  in  our  native  Christians ;  they  are  only  harm- 
ful when  they  are  allowed  to  repress  and  to  conventionalize  that 
life.  The  true  aim  of  missions  must  ever  lie  along  the  lines  of 
the  simplicity,  the  sincerity,  the  liberty,  the  spontaneous  life  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

\  Speaking  positively,  then,  the  aim  of  missions  is  no  less  than 
the  creation  of  a  renewed  humanity  out  of  the  ruined  humanity 
of  the  Christless  nations^  the  creation  of  a  new  humanity  which 
shall  be  not  only  redeemed  but  redemptive,  which  shall  not  onlv 
share  with  Jesus  his  conscious  Sonship  to  God,  but  shall  also 
share  in  his  redemptive  power,  that  of  reproducing  his  sense  of 
Sonship  in  the  souls  of  others.  The  single  aim  of  missions  thus 
takes  on  a  twofold  aspect,  one  looking  toward  personal  redemp- 
tion, and  the  other  toward  social  redemption. 

This  aim,  as  respects  the  personal  religious  life,  is  to  give  to 
every  man  of  the  Christless  nations  fhe  power  to  become  a  child 
of  God.  It  is  so  to  present  Christ  to  every  man  as  the  perfect 
revelation  of  God  and  the  perfect  realization  of  manhood  as  that 
each  shall  be  made  to  know  that  it  is  his  privilege  as  a  man  to  live 
the  life  of  a  child  of  God.  It  was  the  emphasis  upon  this  divine 
birthright  of  man  as  man  that  gave  its  missionary  power  and  so- 
cial meaning  10  the  Methodist  revival.  It  was  this  which  caused 
the  Methodist  revival  to  bear  fruit  in  the  modern  missionary 
movement.  When  Wesley  was  brought  into  full  view  of  the  glo- 
rious liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  by  Peter  Bdhler,  he  exclaimed  : 
"O  what  a  work  hath  God  begun  since  Peter  Bohler's  coming  to 
England  !  Such  a  one  as  shall  never  come  to  an  end  till  heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away !"  Here  we  have  a  more  magnificent 


THE   AIM    AND    SCOPE    OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  27 

missionary  prophecy  than  Wesley  knew.  For  Phillips  Brooks,  "«°WN- 
the  basis  of  all  missionary  effort  lay  in  "the  distinct  and  cordial 
recognition  that  in  no  part  of  the  world  is  there  a  child  of  the 
Father  to  whom  the  Father  is  not  manifesting  himself  to-day  with 
all  the  abundance  of  which  that  child  is  capable."  Our  mission 
is  to  make  men  know,  as  a  message  from  Jesus  Christ,  that  the 
religious  promptings  of  their  natures  are  the  drawings  of  the 
Heavenly  Father,  seeking  to  bring  them  to  himself.  Prof.  Har- 
nack,  in  discussing  the  principles  of  Protestant  missions,  says : 
"What  the  missionary  would  bring  he  must  have  lived;  it  should 
not  be  a  doctrine,  but  a  life ;  not  a  burden,  but  a  setting  free.  He 
cannot  forget  that  he  is  an  evangelical  Protestant  Christian,  but 
it  is  not  Protestantism  which  he  has  to  set  forth,  nor  either  or- 
thodox pr  liberal  theology,  but  the  adoption  of  the  children  o? 
God."  \The  vital  charge  committed  to  the  Christian  missionary 
is  ihe  same  as  that  committed  to  early  Methodism,  to  bring  it 
home  to  the  heart  of  every  man  that  it  is  his  privilege  to  have  the 
Spirit  of  God  bear  witness  with  his  spirit  that  he  is  a  child  of  God^ 
This  personal,  evangelical  aspect  of  the  aim  of  missions  is 
specially  valuable  for  determining  the  true  field  of  missions. 
Tried  by  this  test,  those  great  civilized  people  of  the  Orient,  with 
their  ancient  forms  of  culture,  their  historic  institutions  and  well- 
established  and  complex  religions, are  as  truly  mission  fields  as  are 
the  coarse,  untutored  peoples  of  the  Southern  isles,  or  of  the 
African  jungles.  Both  grades  of  peoples  are  equally  in  need  of 
the  simple,  vital  gospel  of  sonship  to  God.  Tried  by  this  same 
test,  those  nominally  Christian  lands  where  ''the  Bible  is  a  bale- 
ful book,"  where  heaven  is  to  be  won  only  by  ages  of  anguish  or 
swelling  bags  of  gold,  where  the  Heavenly  Father  is  indifferent 
to  the  prayers  of  all  his  creatures  excepting  those  of  a  few  unsa- 
vory saints,  where  Jesus  is  still  the  submissive  Child  of  a  human 
mother,  and  where  "Mariolatry  becomes  lower  than  Chinese  an- 
cestral worship" — such  lands  of  degenerate  Christian  faith  have 
as  strong  and  insistent  claims  on  the  Christian  missionary  as  do 
those  lands  where  the  name  of  Christ  is  as  yet  unknown.  \  But  the 
design  of  missions, is  not  only  to  convert  individuals,  but  also  to 
regenerate  society./  This  design  calls  for  the  organization  of  in-  .  . 
dividual  Christians'  for  the  preservation  and  spread  of  their  faith, 
while  the  spread  of  this  faith  looks  toward  the  coming  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  that  ideal  social  order  for  which  God  has  ever  been 
working  in  human  history.  Every  missionary  is  a  fellow-worker 
with  God  for  the  Christianization  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


28  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

It  is  coming  to  be  felt  that  the  Christianization  of  a  country  can 
The  native  'c"  ^cliieved  only  through  native  agencies.  Coordinate,  there- 
Church,  fore,  with  the  winning  of  individual  converts,  must  be  the  organi- 
zation of  self-supporting  and  self-expanding  native  Churches. 
As  Air.  Henry  Venn,  the  great  Secretary  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  taught,  the  ideal  goal  of  a  foreign  mission  is  its  eu- 
thanasia, its  quiet,  peaceful,  painless  death  as  a  foreign  mission, 
its  having  done  its  missionary  work  so  thoroughly,  and  laid  its 
foundations  so  deeply,  as  at  length  to  have  made  itself  to  be  no 
longer  needed.  ..  The  ideal  aim  is  to  establish  a  native  Church 
which  shall  be  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  missions,  and  so  infused 
with  the  spirit  of  self-help  and  self-propagation,  as  that  it  shall 
cease  to  be  a  mission  field  and  take  its  place  as  a  missionary  force. 
To  be  sure  this  goal  lies  at  the  end  of  a  long,  patient,  and  self-ef- 
facing course  of  missionary  endeavor,  but  nevertheless  this  ideal  is 
to  be  regulative  of  missionary  effort  and  policy  from  the  first.  No- 
ble as  was  the  work  of  our  missionary  fathers,  perhaps  they  en- 
couraged too  much  in  the  native  Christians  the  spirit  of  depend- 
ence. The  old  policy  of  paternalism  tended  too  much  to  pauper- 
ize and  enervate  the  native  Church.  The  present  trend  is  toward 
a  better  state  of  things.  It  was  Miss  Haygood's  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  a  self-supporting  and  self-propagating  Church  which 
gave  her  such  great  joy  when  she  succeeded  in  organizing  the 
first  missionary  society  of  Christian  Chinese  women  and  receiv- 
ing their  generous  gifts  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the 
women  and  children  of  their  native  land.  If  we  have  like  appre- 
ciation, we  shall  hail  every  missionary  Church  that  gets  upon  a 
basis  of  self-support  as  a  most  significant  token  of  missionary 
progress,  ft  is  thus  that  our  missionary  work  is  brought  into  ac- 
cord with  the  ministry  of  Him  who  not  only  bound  individuals  to 
hi:u  by  a  bond  that  was  stronger  than  death,  but  also  organized 
hi>  spirit  and  his  truth  so  fully  into  the  sacred  circle  of  his  disci- 
pies  that  when  his  visible  presence  was  withdrawn  his  work  went 
forward  with  unabating  and  ever  enlarging  spiritual  power  and 
breadth. 

Th's-o?e  'n  turnni,"~  from  the  aim  of  missions  to  a  very  brief  considera- 

tion of  the  scope  of  missions  we  pass  from  the  intensive  to  the  ex- 
tensive phase  of  missions.  The  aim  must  be  as  definite  and  ex- 
alted as  the  ruHng  purpose  of  Chri-t's  ministry,  while  the  scope 
mav  be  as  varied  and  diverse  as  the  needs  of  men.  The  first  great 
area  thr.t  falls  within  the  scope  of  foreign  missions  is  that  of  frieivi- 


THE    AIM    AND    SCOPE    OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  29 

ship.     The  basis  of  all  effective  missionary  work  must  be  laid  in   BROWN- 

personal   friendship,  and  one   vital   qualification   for  missionary 

service  is  just  that  comely  gift  of  making  friends  by  showing  one  s 

self  friendly.     One  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  Jesus's 

life  was  the  number  of  genuine  friendships  \Vhich  he  formed.     So  Christian 

i       •  r  i          T  T    r    •  friendship. 

it  must  be  in  every  successful  missionary  work,  unfeigned  sym- 
pathy for  simple  manhood  in  its  homeliest  joys  and  sorrows  is  a 
ground  principle  of  missions.  Christian  friendship  holds  the  key 
to  every  heart  that  is  not  insuperably  difficult.  It  thus  comes  to 
pass  that  missionary  work  cannot  be  very  highly  specialized,  and 
every  true  missionary  will  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  do  what- 
ever kindly  offices  the  need  of  the  hour  may  require.  Miss  Ha>- 
good,  in  mending  the  torn  garment  of  a  child,  was  as  truly  doing 
missionary  work  as  when  conducting  a  Bible  class  with  her  teach- 
ers. Our  Dr.  Park,  in  ministering  to  the  wounded  officers  or  pre- 
scribing for  the  numberless  petty  ailments  of  China's  teeming 
populace,  is  doing  missionary  work.  Livingstone,  in  taking  the 
"Dark  Continent"  upon  his  heart  and  rinding  a  way  through 
Africa's  wilds  to  her  benighted  children,  was  doing  missionary 
work.  Dr.  Hume,  in  ministering  to  India's  famine-stricken 
host,  was  doing  missionary  work.  Dr.  Stewart  and  his  asso- 
ciates, in  teaching  the  boys  of  South  Africa  the  various  trades. 
are  doing  missionary  work.  Dr.  Yerbeck,  of  Japan,  when  guid- 
ing the  Sunrise  Kingdom  out  of  stagnant  isolation  into  the  sis- 
terhood of  nations,  was  doing  truly  missionary  work — viz., 
befriending  a  need}'  nation.  Our  own  Dr.  Allen,  in  writing  the 
history  of  the  China-Japanese  war  and  teaching  China  the  true 
principles  of  national  progress,  was  certainly  doing  ir.issionary 
work,  t  He  who  has  shown  himself  a  friend  indeed  to  a  needy  in-- 
dividual or  a  helpless  and  bewildered  nation  has  begun  the  creation 
of  an  atmosphere  in  which  alone  large  missionary  progress  is 
possible. x  The  Church  too  often  impatient!}-  calls  for  .-tatistics  of 
converts  without  appreciating  this  gigantic  but  intangible  work 
of  creating  a  friendly  atmosphere  in  which  missions  may  at  last 
come  to  thrive  and  supply  tabulated  results. 

The  second  great  work  that  falls  within  the  scope  of  missions  is 
that  of  winning  souls  to  Christ.  The  evangelistic  work,  as  al- 
ready intimated  in  the  stud}'  of  the  aim  of  missions,  must  ever  re- 
main as  the  central  missionary  method.  It  supplies  the. nerve 

i      i  \  11  ,    -   •        i    i  •          Evangelistic 

tissue  ot  our  whole  missionary  system.  All  personal  friendships 
must  be  subordinated  to  brintnng  men  into  immediate,  direct.  a~:  ! 


3°  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

personal  fellowship  with  the  infinite  Friend.  The  missionary  is 
in  some  real  sense  a  saviour  of  men.  He  has  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  him  to  "convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin,  and 
of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment."  He  is  sent  to  declare,  set 
forth  Christ  as  the  absolute  Lord  of  the  conscience  and  the  divine 
Author  and  Perfecter  of  life.  Every  missionary  is  a  royal  priest  to 
mediate  between  God  and  men:  Unless  he  succeeds  in  reconcil- 
ing men  to  God,  his  ambassadorship  is  in  so  far  a  failure.  He  may 
be  a  very  efficient  teacher,  a  very  able  writer,  or  a  very  proficient 
doctor,  but  if  he  be  ignorant  of  the  art  of  winning  men  to  Christ, 
it  must  be  insisted  that  he  falls  far  short  of  being  a  missionary  of 
the  cross.  One  of  the  ablest  missionaries  of  our  Church,  in  look- 
ing back  over  his  years  of  service  in  the  far  East,  gave  the  verdict 
that  the  chief  defect  in  his  own  missionary  career  had  been  a  lack 
of  strenuous  personal  effort  to  lead  men  to  immediate,  positive 
decision  for  Christ.  The  missionary  is  charged  with  a  gospel 
which  has  infallible  and  innumerable  credentials  that  it  is  the  pow- 
er of  God  unto  salvation.  It  has  converted  South  Sea  cannibals, 
African  Hottentots,  Indian  pariahs,  Chinese  opium  sots,  Korean 
demon  worshipers,  Confucian  scholars,  Mohammedan  fanatics, 
Brahman  priests,  Buddhist  devotees,  and  Japanese  statesmen. 
The  missionary  must  not  do  less  than  bring  the  full  power  of  this 
gospel  to  bear  upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  those  to  whom 
he  is  sent,  and  that  too  with  the  confident  faith  that  men  will  be 
saved  thereby.  This  caution  is  needed  to  provide  against  certain 
shallow  conceptions  of  evangelistic  work  which  have  come  to  pre- 
vail in  some  quarters.  The  missionary  is  not  an  itinerant  evan- 
gelist hastening  from  place  to  place,  making  as  rapid  a  proclama- 
tion of  the  gospel  as  possible  so  that  he  may  finish  his  work  and 
bring  in  the  end  of  the  world  as  soon  as  possible.  The  evangelistic 
work  does  not  mean  a  witnessing  for  Christ  before  men  for  the 
purpose  of  relieving  our  own  obligations  and  putting  upon  these 
men  the  blame  of  their  own  final  condemnation.  It  aims  not  at 
bringing  the  world  to  an  end,  but  at  bringing  the  world  to  Christ ; 
not  at  shifting  obligations,  but  at  sharing  divine  life  and  Christian 
blessings.  Evangelization  means  patient  preparation  of  the  soil, 
persistent  sowing  of  the  seeds  of  truth,  and  prayerful  nurturing  of 
every  germ  of  life,  in  order  that  eternal  fruit  may  be  borne  to  the 
glory  of  our  Lord.  As  Dr.  Clarke  'has  said,  it  is  not  so  much  her- 
alding a  message  as  planting,  permanently,  the  seed  of  life  in  the 
hearts  of  men. 


THE   AIM    AND    SCOPE    OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  31 

The  third  great  work  that  falls  within  the  scope  of  missions  is  BROWN- 
that  of  Christian  nurture  and  education.  In  all  most  progressive  EdacatioBal 
missionary  work  something  like  the  Methodist  class  meeting  is 
found  invaluable.  Christian  nurture  comes  by  way  of  Christian 
fellowship.  In  well-established  Christian  lands  the  Christian 
home,  the  Christian  press,  the  Christian  friendships  and  associa- 
tions, the  Church  services  may  provide  an  atmosphere  in  which 
the  fullest  and  richest  Christian  character  may  growl  But  under 
heathen  conditions  it  becomes  quite  essential  to  have  fellowship 
meetings  wherein  the  strength  of  each  may  reenforce  the  weak- 
ness of  each;  and  all,  by  spiritual  profit-s'haring,  may  be  brought 
to  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  to  the  fullness  of  God  in  Christ.  If  il 
is  important  to  convert  men,  it  is  likewise  important  to  develop 
them  by  fellowship  in  prayer,  praise,  witness-bearing,  Bible  study, 
and  the  serving  of  others.  Christian  brotherhood  is  unexcelled 
as  a  means  of  grace.  But  Christian  nurture  must  not  only  be  de- 
votional but  also  educational,  not  only  emotional  but  also  mental. 
The  law  of  the  unity  of  the  mind  is  of  decided  value  in  our  mission 
work.  It  is  the  same  mind  in  man  that  grapples  with  the  com- 
mon problems  of  daily  life  and  the  profound  mysteries  of  divine 
things.  The  more  of  mental  capacity,  the  more  of  capacity  for 
God,  once  the  whole  mind  is  Christianized.  The  more  power  of 
thinking  one  has,  the  more  power  of  thinking  God's  thoughts  he 
has  should  these  thoughts  engage  his  attention.  The  more  power 
and  breadth  of  sympathy  and  feeling  one  has,  the  more  fully  he  is 
qualified  to  enter  into  the  mind  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  The 
more  power  and  delicacy  of  moral  discrimination  one  has,  the 
more  capable  he  is  of  always  choosing  the  better  part  and  putting 
the  first  things  first.  If,  therefore,  we  must  evangelize  the  Christ- 
less  nations,  we  must  educate  them  as  well.  Evangelization  and 
education  are  reciprocal.  To  educate  without  Christianizing  is 
to  put  keen  weapons  into  lawless  hands.  To  evangelize  without 
educating  is  to  put  the  most  delicate  instruments  into  bungling 
hands.  The  Soochow  University,  Kwansei  Gakuin,  and  Gran- 
bery  College  have  untold  missionary  possibilities  wrapped  up  in 
them  should  the  Church  only  rally  to  them  and  adequately  equip 
them. 

The  fourth  great  work  that  falls  within  the  scope  of  foreign  mis-   „ 

Social  tad  etfc- 

sions  may  be  called  the  work  of  social  betterment.     The  work  ot  icai. 
missions  is  not  aggressively  revolutionary,  but  quietly  and  gently 


32  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

as  the  day  dawn  itself  it  makes  for  the  most  wide- reaching  trans- 
formations. |  Only  two  things  can  here  be  mentioned  fs  Christian 
missions  mean  a  socialized  conscience  and  a  purified  home.  To 
put  men  of  Christian  spirit  and  education,  men  of  public  and  pa- 
triotic sentiment,  men  of  self-respecting  and  noble  personality 
into  all  the  avenues  of  life,  as  our  mission  schools  and  colleges  are 
doing,  is  to  begin  to  make  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  wherein 
dv\elleth  righteousness\  To  put  refined,  self-respecting  women, 
women  of  character  and  consecration,  such  as  come  from  the  girls' 
schools  of  our  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society — to  put  such 
pure  and  forceful  women  as  these  into  the  homes  of  Christless 
lands  is  to  touch  the  social  life  with  sanctifying  power  at  its  very 
fountain  head,  and  is  a  sight  enough  akin  to  the  birth  hour  of 
Jesus  to  evoke  from  the  heavenly  host  high  praise  to  God — yea, 
their  old-time  Christmas  anthem,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men." 

Such  are  the  aim  and  scope  of  the  divine  enterprise  in  whose  be- 
half we  have  assembled  in  this  Conference.  The  vast  Christless 
world  lies  before  us  in  darkness  and  in  death,  a  Reid  waiting  to  be 
won  for  Christ,  and  its  tremendous  want  and  ruin  find  us  either 
criminally  ignorant  and  indifferent  or  missionary,  heart  and  con- 
science. The  great  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  to  which  we 
belong  is  virtually  the  mother  of  the  modern  missionary  move- 
Summary,  ment,  and  we  shall  be  traitors  to  our  family  name  and  tradition 
unless  cur  hearts  are  strangely  warmed  with  a  great  missionary 
purpose.  vThe  religion  which  we  profess  is  vitally  and  distinc- 
tively the  missionary  religion  ;  and  if  we  are  Christian  people,  we 
must  be  missionary  people.  The  Lord  Christ,  whose  name  we 
bear,  left  heaven  for  earth,  and  for  all  the  limitations  and  sufle;-- 
ings  and  shanie  of  earth,  as  the  divine  missionary  to  lost  human- 
it}- ;  and  if  we  have  the  mind  and  love  in  us  which  were  in  him, 
the  aim  of  our  lives,  too,  will  be  missionarv.  Yea,  the  great  God. 
and  Father  of  us  all  is  a  missionary  God — a  God  who  so  loved  the 
world  as  to  give  his  only-begotten  Son  for  its  salvation — and  if  we 
are  truly  his  loyal  children,  our  lives  and  our  all  are  upon  his  al- 
tar for  missionarv  sacrifice  and  service.' 


THE    MISSIONARY   IDEA.  33 

THE  MISSIONARY  IDEA. 

BISHOP  E.  R.  HENDRIX. 

A  GREAT  jurist  was  to  have  filled  this  place  to-night,  and  not  un- 
til some  two  or  three  weeks  ago  did  the  Executive  Committee  in- 
form me  that,  on  account  of  his  important  legal  engagements,  his 
name  could  not  appear  upon  the  programme,  and  asked  that  I 
would  consent  to  share  this  important  occasion  with  the  distin- 
guished United  States  Minister  Whose  address  we  have  all  fol- 
lowed with  so  much  interest.  I  confess,  while  I  feel  deeply  my 
responsibility,  I  have  no  small  sense  of  gratification  in  being  called 
upon  to  take  a  layman's  place,  and  address  an  audience  com- 
posed so  largely  of  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  this 
city,  and  of  prominent  merchants,  business  men,  bankers,  and  pro- 
fessional men  from  all  parts  of  our  common  country. 

This  is  a  question,  my  brethren,  that  does  not  relate  to  the  min- 
istry alone ;  it  is  a  question  that  does  not  relate  to  the  Church 
alone ;  it  is  a  question  that  relates  to  our  common  humanity. 
When  Hon.  John  Barrett  was  speaking  of  his  interview  with  the 
President  before  he  came  here,  I  could  not  but  recall  the  one 
which,  less  than  three  years  ago,  I  had  with  our  honored  Chief 
Magistrate,  when  I  congratulated  him  upon  his  pronounced  pol- 
icy of  appointing  only  Christian  men  to  represent  us  as  Ministers 
in  heathen  lands,  and  he  said  :  "Yes,  whoever  may  represent  us  in  A  policy. 
European  countries,  he  who  represents  us  in  a  heathen  land 
should  represent  what  makes  us  a  Christian  nation."  And  I  am 
delighted  to  say  that,  again  and  again,  as  I  have  talked  with  our 
ambassadors  in  these  missionary  fields  where  I  have  gone — and  1 
have  always  gone  with  an  autographic  letter  of  introduction  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  our  representatives,  so  that 
I  have  been  received  into  their  confidence  and  have  talked  face 
to  face  with  them  on  these  matters— I  have  been  impressed  with 
the  fairness  of  view  which  has  for  the  most  part  marked  them  in 
regard  to  the  responsibilities  with  which  the}'  were  charged  for 
the  protection  of  missionary  and  merchant  alike,  as  citizens  of  our 
common  country.  I  have  even  invited  the  representatives  of  out- 
government  to  be  present  at  our  great  missionary  gatherings  in 
times  of  peril ;  and  we  had  our  Consul  General  to  China,  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  our  great  perils  there,  come  before  the  honored 
women  of  our  Church,  whose  work  we  hold  in  such  esteem,  and 
say  to  them  :  "'Go  to  your  field  in  confidence.  You  are  as  much 
3 


34  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

HEXDRIX.  entitled  to  be  here  as  any  merchant  or  any  citizen  of  our  country. 
The  missionaries,  male  and  female,  are  here  under  treaty  rights ; 
and  if  you  are  in  peril,  I  will  come  to  you  with  the  flag  of  your 
country." 

Lord  Curzon,  now  Viceroy  of  India,  in  his  great  work  on  "The 
Problems  of  the  Far  East,"  showed  the  diplomat  when  he  said  that 
it  seems  at  times  a  misfortune  that  a  single  text  of  Scripture  should 
be  emphasized  so  largely  as  to  become  a  dominant  idea,  and  that 
the  missionary  idea  should  so  far  prevail  as  to  thrust  itself  at  times 
somewhat  unpleasantly  into  the  path  of  the  diplomat.  But,  as  I 
shall  know  you  in  the  course  of  this  address,  so  far  from  this 
being  a  minor  idea,  based  upon  a  single  scriptural  text,  it  is  an 
idea  so  inwrought  into  the  whole  structure  of  Christianity  that,  dis- 
sect it  therefrom,  and  you  must  call  home  your  merchants  as  well 
as  your  missionaries,  your  ambassador  as  well  as  your  missionary. 
Obliterate  this  missionary  idea,  and  we  cease  to  have  any  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations.  Commerce  itself  becomes  impossi- 

Missions  and  ,  . 

commerce.  ble,  and  we  build  up  our  own  Chinese  wall  of  separation  from  other 
nations  and  live  wholly  within  ourselves.  And  to  the  merchant 
and  the  business  man  here  to-night,  I  want  to  say  that  this  great 
upheaval  which  is  occurring  in  China  is  more  of  a  commercial  up- 
heaval than  anything  else.  Sir  Robert  Hart,  in  his  home  in  the 
city  of  Peking,  told  me  in  1895  that  it  had  been  imposible  up  to 
that  time  to  build  a  railroad  from  Tien-tsin  to  Peking  for  fear  of  an 
uprising  of  the  mule  drivers,  the  freighters  that  drove  the  mule 
teams  and  carts  between  those  two  cities  ;  a  carters'  rebellion,  as 
lie  termed  it,  which  would  probably  topple  the  Manchu  dynasty. 
The  Emperor  was  terrorized  by  them.  Now  what  has  transpired 
i?  the  final  building  of  that  road  almost  to  Peking;  and  the  men 
most  active  in  the  Boxer  movement  were  these  very  carters  out  of 
employment.  They  are  the  men  who  have  been  deprived  of  the 
privilege  of  conducting  the  great  freight  business  over  the  coun- 
try ;  and  they,  in  common  with  the  boatmen  who  ply  up  and  down 
the  Peiho  river,  arc  the  men  who  have  filled  the  armies  and  made 
up  the  great  mass  of  the  Boxers.  It  was  a  commercial  as  well  as 
a  political  disturbance  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  imprudence  of 
Germany  at  a  critical  moment,  which  made  it  inevitable  almost, 
that  the  German  Minister  should  be  assassinated,  this  movement 
that  has  become  antiforeign  against  Europeans  and  Americans, 
would  have  been  antiforeign  against  the  Manchurian  dynasty,  an 


THE    MISSIONARY    IDEA.  35 

uprising  of  the  people  against  their  monarch,  in  the  belief  that  the  IIEN'DRIX- 
throne  was  responsible  for  the  changed  conditions  of  commercial 
and  business  life,  due  to  the  consent  of  the  throne  to  the  construc- 
tion of  that  railroad.  The  Empress  Dowager,  usurping  the  throne, 
turned  the  movement  against  all  foreigners,  with  the  most  fright- 
ful results. 

So  that  all  these  questions  are  not  religious  questions,  nor  are 
they  purely  political ;  but  they  are  largely  commercial  and  indus- 
trial, relating  to  the  discontented  and  unemployed  classes — and 
such  questions,  arising  in  heathen  lands  with  a  feeble  government 
and  a  low  type  of  civilization,  are  beyond  the  power  of  regula- 
tion as  they  are  here,  and  especially  when  they  are  questions  into 
which  does  not  enter  the  spirit  of  Christian  charity  and  for- 
bearance, and  of  arbitration,  which  makes  possible  wise  and  satis- 
factory adjustments. 

So,  if  we  take  this  broad  view  of  it,  we  will  discover  that  it  is 
something  that  the  business  man  has  in  common  with  the  minis- 
ter, that  the  nation  has  in  common  with  the  Church ;  and  as  these 
mighty  commercial  movements  are  sending  forth  their  great 
steamships  and  cargoes  to  these  distant  lands,  it  is  a  question  as 
to  the  perpetuity  of  commerce,  and  the  security  of  property  and 
protection  of  interests  as  well  of  the  merchant  as  of  the  mission- 
ary. 

I  remember  dining  with  Dr.  Young  J.  Allen  in  the  home  of  a  An  example. 
wealthy  English  merchant  in  Shanghai — a  second  time  his  guest. 
He  seemed  to  take  special  delight  in  showing  personal  courtesy 
to  us,  and  I  said  to  him  :  "I  have  thought  of  you  so  often  while  in 
Korea  and  Japan  since  I  was  last  at  your  table,  and  I  want  to  say 
that  you  are  the  missing  link  between  missionary  and  merchant." 
Then  he  opened  his  heart  to  me  and  said,  "I  have  sought  thus  to 
be.  I  have  found  that  the  merchant  and  the  missionary  do  not  un- 
derstand each  other,  and  I  have  invited  a  number  of  missionaries 
to  my  table  and  said  to  them,  T  want  the  foreign  merchants 
here  to  know  more  of  your  work.  Appoint  times  and  places  where 
they  can  visit  you ;  for  I  believe  that  if  they  knew  the  wonderful 
work  you  are  doing  here  the}-  would  feel  far  more  interest  in 
you  ;'  "  and  he  said,  ''As  a  result  of  that  movement,  our  merchants 
have  visited  this  mission  and  that  one,  have  seen  this  school  and 
that  congregation  ;  and  we  find  that  our  very  commerce  in  China 
is  based  upon  the  missionary.  He  precedes  us  into  the  interior 


36  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

i.ENDRix.  an(j  becomes  the  means  of  our  communication  with  the  natives. 
He  teaches  them  some  of  the  valuable  uses  of  those  articles  which 
are  the  characteristics  of  our  civilization,  and  the  result  is  that  our 
merchandise  can  never  go  ahead  of  the  gospel."  The  gospel  is  the 
The  gospel  and  pioneer  in  every  instance ;  and  when  you  are  finding  new  ports  and 
commerce.  new  fie\ds  of  commerce,  remember  that  you  owe  them  to  the  mis- 
sionary, and  remember  that  in  this  wonderful  movement  which  is 
marking  our  day,  when  all  Eastern  Asia  is  looking  so  attentively 
toward  our  shores,  it  is  the  missionary  that  is  preparing  the  way 
for  your  cotton,  that  is  preparing  the  way  for  your  lumber,  that  is 
preparing  the  way  for  the  output  of  your  rolling  mills,  and  all 
those  things  that  look  to  and  await  the  development  of  Eastern 
Asia.  There  is  to  be  a  sense  of  intercommunication  between  the 
missionary  and  the  merchant,  in  the  coming  months  and  years, 
such  as  has  never  marked  their  former  relations. 

So  much  for  the  fact  that  these  are  so  much  intertwined  as  to 
be  absolutely  inseparable ;  that  "commerce"  is  really  a  Christian 
word ;  that  international  intercourse  is  the  offspring  of  Christian- 
ity ;  that  international  law  is  born  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ; 
that  all  these  relations  that  bring  humanity  into  one  brotherhood 
are  possible  because  Christ,  our  divine  Brother,  came  into  the 
midst  of  men. 

Asnperaatu-          But  T  come  to  speak  to-night  of  what  is  fundamental  to  it  all, 
raiidea.  an(j  ^^  ^s  ^£,  missiMiary  idea.     Back  of  every  great  movement 

is  an  idea.  Before  the  world  was  made,  God  formed  the  idea  of 
creation.  And  the  missionary  movement  is  as  creative  an  idea  as 
the  idea  and  work  of  creation  itself.  It  is  a  supernatural  idea,  it 
is  God's  great  thought;  and  there  never  was  a  mind,  other  than  a 
Christian  mind,  that  conceived  of  a  God  great  enough  to  love  all 
the  world,  and  to  send  his  Son  into  the  world  to  die  for  all  the 
world.  It  has  taken  the  thought  of  God  to  expand  the  intellect  of 
man  large  enough  to  take  in  this  great  love  of  God,  with  all  its  pa- 
tience, with  all  its  forbearance  and  hopefulness,  with  all  its  love 
and  sympathy,  that;  has  led  to  the  regeneration  of  man. 

I  don't  wonder  that  an  irreligious  man  has  doubts  on  the  sub- 
ject of  missions.  The  missionary  idea  is  such  an  idea  as  that  of 
the  resurrection.  It  is  distinctly  a  revelation.  Xo  unaided  human 
mind  ever  had  it.  Plato  pronounced  it  impossible  for  a  common 
religion  to  obtain  in  all  the  world.  The  idea  of  universal  mission- 
ary work  was  never  born  in  any  human  mind.  There  is  no  such 
idea  in  the  heathen  creed.  Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism  are 


THE   MISSIONARY    IDEA.  37 


IIENDKIX. 


missionary  in  the  sense  that  they  follow  the  caravan  routes;  but 
there  never  was  a  false  religion  with  vitality  enough  to  dare  an 
ocean  voyage,  or  to  go  beyond  or  outside  of  the  great  caravan 
routes.  This  great  idea  of  a  world-wide  religion,  embracing  our 
common  humanity,  is  born  of  the  idea  of  the  one  God  who  made 
all  men  of  one  blood,  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  dis- 
tinctly a  divine  conception,  a  revealed  idea ;  and  where  you  find 
men  decrying  or  disparaging  foreign  missions,  it  is  only  a  confes- 
sion of  their  intellectual  and  spiritual  limitations.  They  have  never 
had  that  largeness  of  view,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  which  is  born 
of  a  revealed  idea.  It  is  a  revelation  that  comes  to  the  mind  of 
man  from  the  very  mind  of  God;  and  nowhere  in  all  the  wonderful 
Scriptures  is  a  man  ever  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  heathen  until  he 
lias  first  had  an  audience  with  his  God. 

When  an  ambassad'or  goes  out,  he  goes  out  more  than  as  a  mes- 
senger with  a  message.  He  goes  out  to  represent  the  very  person 
of  his  sovereign;  and  when  a  missionary  goes  forth,  he  is  always 
sent  forth  from  the  very  audience  chamber  of  the  Deity. 

I  don't  wonder  that  the  proudest  monument  in  the  proudest  city  Amouument. 
of  the  proudest  nation  of  the  earth,  that  great  monument  which 
rises  in  the  midst  of  the  intelligence  and  the  commerce  and  the 
wealth  of  the  great  city  of  London,  is  a  monument,  not  to  Wel- 
lington,  not  to  Xelson,  but  to  a  missionary,  the  great  missionary 
to  the  Gentiles  ;  and  it  is  that  great  cathedral  of  St.  Paul,  under 
whose  dome  sleep  the  ashes  of  Wellington,  Xelson.  and  all  the 
great  heroes  of  England.  And  this  tells  us  that  England's  great- 
ness is  due  to  one  mighty  brain  that  took  in  this  revealed  idea  of 
God;  and  the  English  nation,  in  the  high  honor  that  it  thus  pays, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  to  that  missionary,  pays  honor  to 
the  revealed  idea,  the  great  thought  of  God,  put  into  the  mind  01 
man  so  as  to  enlarge  that  mind,  so  that  the  proudest  nation  of 
Europe  delights,  above  all  other  men,  to  do  him  honor.  A  re- 
vealed idea  !  Let  that  never  be  lost  sight  of,  and  always  remem- 
ber that  it  is  as  much  of  a  revealed  idea  as  is  the  idea  of  the  resur- 
rection itself,  so  that  when  men  dispute  it  you  may  say  as  our 
Lord  said  when  men  disputed  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  : 

"Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God." 

.  A  Christian 

Again,  it  is  preeminently  a  Christian  idea.     It  relates  not  sim-  idea. 

ply  to  the  revelation  that  comes  to  us  from  God  the  Father,  but 
the  revelation  that  comes  to  us  from  the  heart  and  from  the  verv 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Where  is 
Christ? 


lips  of  Christ,  his  Son.  Our  religion  is  not  the  religion  of  a  book ; 
Mohammedanism  is  that.  Our  religion  is  the  religion  of  a  person, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  it  is  from  that  loving  heart,  with  its 
great  tides  of  love  going  out  to  the  remotest  sons  of  men,  that  the 
message  comes  to  us  all  to-night  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  re- 
vealed idea,  born  in  the  heart  of  the  Son  of  God,  come  to  earth 
for  the  salvation  of  man,  to  be  recognized  in  his  divine  mission 
first  of  all  by  a  semiheathen,  when  the  Samaritan  woman  cried 
out:  "Is  not  this  the  Saviour  of  the  world?"  Only  the  Christ 
could  save  a  Samaritan. 

A  Christian  idea ;  remember  it  comes  to  us  from  the  very  heart 
of  the  Son  of  God. 

Some  years  ago,  when  the  saintly  Dr.  Gordon  died,  the  follow- 
ing Sabbath  was  a  sad  and  lonely  day.  Those  who  had  been  his 
close  helpers  in  this  work  gathered  in  his  study  and  thought  over 
their  pastor's  first  Sabbath  in  heaven.  And  they  asked:  ''What 
would  most  gratify  Dr.  Gordon  for  us  to  do  to-day?"  For  years 
they  had  been  sustaining  their  own  missionaries,  giving  not  less 
than  twenty  thousand  dollars  annually  for  foreign  missionary 
work.  Finally  one  wise  man  rose  and  said :  ''I  know  what  would 
best  gratify  Dr.  Gordon,  and  that  is,  if  his  congregation,  on  this 
the  first  Sabbath  of  his  ascent  into  the  presence  of  his  glorified 
Lord,  would  seek  with  all  their  hearts  to  carry  out  the  Saviour's 
last  words  to  men  :  'Go  ye  and  preach  the  gospel  to  all  the  world.' 
Let  us  give  such  a  contribution  to-day  as  the  Church  has  never 
given  before."  And  the  hearts  of  those  devout  laymen  responded 
to  the  idea  that  they  knew  to  be  nearest  to  the  heart  of  their  de- 
parted pastor,  because  it  was  nearest  the  heart  of  his  risen  Lord. 

We  need  to  go  forward,  not  backward,  to  find  Christ.  Christ  is 
always  at  the  head  of  the  column,  lie  said  to  his  disciples  :  "Lo, 
I  go  before  you  into  Galilee."  And  the  last  words  he  said  were : 
•  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,  when  you 
go  preaching  my  gospel  to  every  creature."  \Vould  you  have  near- 
ness to  him?  It  is  found  in  obedience  to  his  divine  command. 
Would  you  enjoy  the  most  of  his  presence?  It  is  when  you  are 
conscious  of  that  presence  at  the  head  of  your  column  as  you  ad- 
vance into  heathen  lands.  Never  has  my  faith  been  more  stead- 
fast than  in  yonder  Asia,  where  I  have  gone  in  my  Master's  name 
in  sweet  fellowship  with  other  Christians,  and  there  have  realized 
his  presence  even  unto  the  end  of  the  earth.  This  world  has 


THE   MISSIONARY    IDEA.  39 

around  it  for  me  a  girdle  of  light;  and  as  I  have  gone  on  and  on,  HENDRIX- 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  he  has  been  with  me  every  league  of  the 
journey,  and  I  ever  seemed  to  hear  the  words :  "Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  as  you  go  forth  to  give 
this  gospel  to  every  creature." 

/But  I  am  going  deeper  yet.  It  is  not  only  a  revealed  idea,  a  A  fundamental 
Christian  idea  ;  it  is  the  fundamental  idea  of  our  holy  religion.  It  idea. 
is  a  great  organizingidea ;  absolutely  if  you  take  out  of  our  religion 
this  great  missionary  idea  it  is  no  longer  respectabley*  Christ  came 
as  a  Saviour  for  all  the  world,  with  a  heart  large  enough  to  take  in 
all  the  world,  with  a  message  for  all  the  world.  As  Dr.  A.  H. 
Strong  said  in  the  great  Ecumenical  Conference,  there  are  two 
foci  around  which  our  religion  revolves,  simply  two  words : 
"Come"  and  "Go."  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;"  and  then  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  My  brethren, 
"Go"  is  the  most  frequent  commandment  that  our  Lord  gave  us. 
He  sought  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  his  disciples  that  this 
was  the  supreme  mission  and  commission.  It  is  absolutely  his 
perpetual  command.  It  interprets  all  his  parables.  It  has  ex- 
plained his  marvelous  prayer  of  which  the  old  rabbis  said  that  the 
prayer  that  did  not  say  "Thy  kingdom  come"  is  not  a  prayer  at 
all.  Christ  bade  his  disciples  "go"  after  he  had  first  bid  them 
"come ;"  and  if  I  address  any  layman  here  to-night  to  whom  the 
Master  has  ever  said  "Come,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  I  repeat 
that  he  has  said  with  greater  urgency  and  authority,  "Go  with  my 
gospel.  Go  or  send." 

It  is  the  minister's  command,  it  is  the  layman's  command ;  it  is 
the  believer's  command  everywhere.  Our  whole  Christianity 
gathers  about  this  central  fundamental  idea.  Why,  my  brethren, 
it  is  the  great  driving  wheel  of  all  the  machinery  of  the  Church.  The  church's 
Have  you  ever  gone  into  some  manufactory  and  seen  that  driving 
\vheel  start?  And  when  it  was  started,  every  wheel  and  every  cog- 
in  all  that  wonderful  establishment  proceeded  with  its  revolutions. 
Stop  that  driving  wheel  and  you  stop  all  the  others.  This  is  the 
driving  wheel  of  our  whole  religion,  of  our  entire  ecclesiasticism. 
"Go."  There  is  something  wonderful  about  that  word.  Out  of 
that  word,  that  fundamental  command,  has  grown  up  the  very  or- 
ganization of  our  Church.  How  did  your  colleges  have  their 
start?  It  was  in  order  to  fit  men  to  "go."  How  did  vour  Bible 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Action  and  re- 
action. 


Source  of  re- 
vival power. 


societies  have  their  start?  It  was  in  order  to  send  the  Word  of 
God  out  to  all  the  world.  How  did  your  Church  extension  so- 
cieties have  their  start?  In  order  to  obey  that  command,  to 
house  and  shelter  these  disciples  of  God.  How  did  your  tract  so- 
cieties get  their  start?  It  was  in  order  to  scatter  those  leaves 
broadcast  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  All  your  great  socie- 
ties— nay,  all  your  great  revivals  of  religion — when  you  come  to 
their  proper  origin,  have  their  origin  just  here. 

The  religion  that  is  not  worth  exporting  is  not  fit  for  home  con- 
sumption. We  measure  the  vitality  of  any  Church  by  whether  it 
appreciates  its  doctrine  enough  to  believe  it  and  to  send  it  forth 
to  their  neighbors  and  share  it  with  the  world.  When  the  great 
measure  came  before  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  of  chartering 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  some  member  got  up 
and  said:  "I  am  opposed  to  it;  we  haven't  enough  religion  for 
home  use,  much  less  to  give  to  the  world,  to  export  to  foreign- 
lands."  But  some  wise  man  rose  and  replied :  "Sir,  I  have  this  to 
say  :  "When  our  religion  is  of  this  character,  the  more  we  export 
of  it  the  more  we  have  left  of  it;  and  the  more  we  believe  in  this 
gospel  to  give  it  to  all  the  world,  the  more  do  we  believe  in  it  as 
the  bread  of  life  at  home." 

You  will  remember  the  great  Andrew  Fuller,  who  was  so  close- 
ly associated  with  William  Carey  in  his  religious  operations.  He 
was  fervently  concernedabout  thewrelfareof  his  own  great  Church. 
His  people  seemed  to  have  too  slight  an  appreciation  of  the  gos- 
pel, too  little  concern  for  the  salvation  of  their  children  and  their 
immediate  community;  and  so  one  Sunday  the  wise  pastor 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  give  the  gospel 
to  the  world ;  and  there  came  a  mental  breadth,  a  spiritual  en- 
largement, a  quickening  of  conscience  to  his  congregation,  and  a 
blessed  reflex  influence  upon  his  own  heart  and  mind.  The  next 
Sabbath,  inspired  by  what  had  been  done,  he  spoke  on  that  great 
subject  from  another  standpoint :  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  give 
the  gospel  to  the  world.  It  deepened  the  whole  intellectual  and 
spiritual  consciousness  of  his  people.  And  the  third  Sabbath  he 
spoke  from  another  standpoint  on  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  give 
the  gospel  to  the  world.  And  when  he  got  through  men  came 
trembling  to  him  and  said :  "'Is  not  this  gospel  that  can  save  the 
world  able  to  save  my  son,  my  child,  my  business  partner?"  And 
such  a  revival  of  relicfion  broke  out  in  that  Church  as  it  had  never 


THE   MISSIONARY    IDEA.  41 

known  before.     The  gospel  that  was  fit  for  export  was  fit  for  home  HENDRIX- 
consumption. 

Why,  my  friends,  this  missionary  idea  is  so  fundamental  that  it 
has  even  revolutionized  our  creeds ;  it  has  changed  our  theology. 
It  was  born  of  the  Son  of  God,  through  his  coming  to  earth  and 
his  atonement.  He  was  sufficient  for  all  the  world,  and  so  Fuller 
believed  in  it  and  wrote  that  wonderful  book  on  the  adaptation  oi 
the  gospel ;  and  from  that  time  forth  he  paved  the  way  for  that  new 
view  of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  born  of  unlimited  love.  That 
is  why  our  creeds  have  had  to  be  reconstructed.  The  missionary 
idea  was  like  new  wine  in  old  bottles,  it  burst  them  asunder ;  and  creeds, 
the  creed  to-day  that  does  not  justify  the  giving  of  the  gospel  to 
all  the  world  does  not  satisfy  Christians  in  America  or  England. 
Charles  Wesley  was  right  when  he  said :  "Take  back  my  interest 
in  thy  blood  unless  it  flows  for  all  the  race."  We  reject  a  Christ 
who  did  not  live  for  all  men  and  die  for  all  men. 

So  far  from  the  missionary  idea  being  a  mere  incident  that  has 
been  exaggerated  out  of  all  proportion,  it  is  absolutely  fundamen- 
tal. It  organizes  the  whole  Church.  It  organizes  its  teachings ; 
it  organizes  its  plans;  it  organizes  its  activities  and  all  its  opera- 
tions. 

But  more  than  that — and  that  is  the  last  point  I  shall  venture  to 
make  to-night — the  missionary  idea  is  the  most  inspiring  idea  of 
all  our  Christianity.  The  missionary  idea — what  is  it  but  the  in- 
carnation? The  missionary  idea — what  is  it  but  the  atonement? 
The  missionary  idea — what  is  it  but  the  ascension?  The  mission- 
ary idea — what  is  it  but  the  risen  Lord,  seated  upon  his  throne. 
expectant,  till  his  enemies  shall  have  become  his  footstool,  waiting 
until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  all  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?  So  inspiring  is  it  that  it  has  made  Christen-  AniusF 
dom  what  it  is — until  the  brain  of  the  world  to-night  is  a  Christian  l 
brain,  till  the  heart  of  the  world  to-night  is  a  Christian  heart,  till 
the  purse  of  the  world  to-night  is  a  Christian  purse,  till  all  the 
great  activities  of  the  world  to-night  are  Christian  activities.  You 
have  not  had  a  new  idea  from  the  heathen  world  for  a  thousand 
years,  nor  a  new  appliance,  nor  a  new  invention.  You  don't  look 
to  the  heathen  for  anything.  The  mind  of  Christ  is  the  mind  of 
his  people,  and  all  their  great  conceptions  have  been  clue  to  hi^ 
inspiration  and  awakening  power.  What  we  term  human  aspira- 
tion is  born  of  divine  inspiration  ;  man  aspires  because  God  in- 
spires. John  Bright  said  more  than  once  to  Gladstone  :  "I  am 


42  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

willing  to  stake  the  whole  question  of  the  divinity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures on  the  book  of  Psalms;  for  no  man  could  write  such  in- 
spired songs  unless  God  inspired  him." 

Now  permit  me  to  make  a  remark  right  here.  There  are  three 
things  belonging  to  man  that  belong  to  no  other  earthly  creature. 
One,  his  religious  feeling;  another,  his  moral  sense  ;  and  the  third, 
his  perception  of  the  sublime.  All  great  thinkers  have  discovered 
that  these  belong  to  man  alone.  Man  alone  can  think  the  unseen ; 

m.in  alone  can  love  the  unseen ;  man  alone  can  obey  the  unseen ; 
Man  r.nd  God.  J 

man  alone  can  worship  the  unseen.  Man  alone  has  religious  sen- 
sibility: man  alone  has  a  moral  sense.  That  which  binds  a  man 
to  the  throne  of  God;  that  which  makes  a  man  conscious  of  God's 
proprietorship  in  him ;  that  which  sways  the  human  life  as  the 
heavenly  orbs  sway  the  tides  of  the  sea — is  man's  moral  responsi- 
bility to  God. 

Man  alone  has  a  conception  of  the  sublime.  No  animal  can 
look  at  a  great  landscape  with  a  conception  of  its  sublimity.  No 
other  creature  on  the  face  of  the  earth  can  have  a  sense  of  the  sub- 
limity of  a  great  task  or  a  great  achievement  amid  seemingly  in- 
vincible difficulties.  God  has  given  this  to  man  as  his  crowning 
characteristic.  That  which  appeals  to  man  more  than  all  else ; 
that  which  is  an  inspiration  to  him;  that  which  enlarges  and  sways 
him — is  the  missionary  idea.  It  is  the  appeal  to  his  religious  sen- 
sibility that  makes  man  conscious  of  a  God  of  all  the  earth,  of  an 
unseen  Father  that  made  of  one  blood  all  the  races  of  mankind 
and  dwelt  on  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  It  is  that  which  stirs  his 
moral  sense,  wrhich  makes  'him  feel  that  it  is  the  command  of  his 
God  that  he  go  forth  and  share  his  gospel  with  all  the  world. 
Crowning  all,  inseparable  from  all,  are  these  three  great  principles 
of  our  spiritual  life.  I  do  not  care  at  which  point  you  start,  you 
will  always  find  them  interblended.  I  don't  wonder  that  Nelson 
wrent  to  prayer  when  the  great  battle  of  Trafalgar  was  about  to  be 
fought.  And  when  the  missionary  idea  is  in  its  full  force  upon 
man,  he  feels  and  knows  that  as  God's  greatest  gift  to  man  was 
Christ,  so  is  Christ  man's  greatest  gift  to  his  fellow-man. 

Talk  of  great  battles  and  campaigns  of  earth.  How  wonderful- 
ly the  greatest  battlefield  of  history  shrinks  in  comparison  with 
that  great  battlefield  of  the  gospel  in  Asia,  South  America,  and 
Mexico !  Why  talk  of  great  campaigns,  with  their  marvelous 
schemes,  were  men  with  the  map  of  a  single  territory  before  them 
study  the  great  lines  of  approach  ?  God  puts  the  map  of  the  world 


THE    MISSIONARY    IDEA. 


43 


into  the  hands  of  his  Church,  and  bids  them  triangulate  all  that  »ENDRIX. 
great  field,  scale  all  those  mighty  mountains,  cross  all  those  wide 
seas  in  the  name  of  his  blessed  Son  who  died  for  all,  and  proclaim 
to  all  the  matchless  tidings  of  eternal  life.  It  is  the  missionary 
who  has  gone  into  the  midst  of  these  foreign  and  heathen  people, 
who  has  studied  out  their  languages,  who  has  given  them  gram- 
mars and  dictionaries,  who  has  made  possible  the  access  of  for- 
eign ministers  and  merchants;  it  is  the  missionary  who  has  bravely 
and  conscientiously  met  and  overcome  all  the  difficulties  in  his 
way,  and  who  has  pioneered  the  way  into  those  dark  con- 
tinents in  the  name  of  God.  And  the  grandest  victories  of 
earth  have  yet  to  be  recorded.  The  greatest  campaigns  ever  to 
be  seen  in  earth  or  in  heaven  are  just  now  about  to  be  projected. 
I  remember  the  eloquent  compliment  that  Elder  -  -  paid  to 
Adoniram  Judson  when  he  said  that  if  all  the  work  of  missions  had 
produced  only  one  such  character  as  that  it  would  be  worth  all  the 
expenditure ;  and  so  noble  and  unselfish  and  brave  a  man,  a  man  of 
such  breadth  of  view  and  such  wholesomeness  of  spirit,  you  never 
find  outside  of  the  mission  field.  It  takes  a  great  battle  to  make 
a  great  hero,  and  the  greatest  heroes  of  earth  are  to  come  from 
this  battlefield  of  missions.  The  men  of  the  largest  horizon  to-day 
are  the  men  who  are  studying  profoundly  that  map  of  the  world, 
with  the  commission  of  the  Lord  ringing  in  their  ears ;  and  the 
greatest  achievements  are  those  that  have  been  made  in  the  mis- 
sion fields. 

We  are  entering  upon  the  heroic  age  of  Christianity.  There  is  The  heroic  age. 
no  century  since  the  first  that  so  nearly  approximates  that  cen- 
tury in  breadth  of  view,  in  holy  purpose,  in  lofty  ambition  and  de- 
sire, as  the  century  that  has  just  ended.  Nothing  is  comparable 
to  it  in  all  those  intervening  years  and  centuries  ;  nothing  in  point 
of  zeal,  nothing  in  point  of  intelligent  organization.  That  last 
century  of  ours  has  approximated  the  first  so  marvelously  as  to 
call  the  attention  of  profound  thinkers  to  the  fact  that  it  seems  to 
join  on  to  it  as  if  the  Spirit  of  God  flowed  directly  from  the  first 
to  the  nineteenth  century.  That  nineteenth  century  ended  with 
the  large  opportunities  given  to  the  Church  to-day,  and  the  twen- 
tieth century  summons  us  on  to  acts  of  heroism  and  of  devotion 
and  of  self-sacrifice  and,  blessed  be  God !  to  triumphs  such  as  we 
have  never  known  before. 

My  brethren,  I  usually  weigh  my  words  with  great  care,  and  1 
do  it  to-night.     I  venture  the  honest  conviction  that  before  the 


44 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


HENDRIX. 


Possibilities. 


Two  great 
events. 


close  of  this  century  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  will  be  the  ac- 
cepted religion  in  every  nation  of  the  earth.  And,  my  brethren,  if 
the  scenes  of  that  great  Missionary  Conference  of  last  year  and  of 
this  one  shall  be  repeated  for  ten  years  at  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  I  see  no  reason  why  that  may  not  be  accomplished  by  the 
middle  of  the  twentieth  century.  This  movement  is  taking  hold 
of  this  great  nation,  business  men  and  all,  as  no  other  movement 
in  the  history  of  our  country.  I  don't  wonder  that  Presidents  and 
ex-Presidents  of  the  United  States  say  that  never,  in  all  their  ca- 
reers as  public  men,  have  they  seen  anything  comparable  to  that 
great  Missionary  Conference  of  last  year ;  and  in  the  history  of  our 
great  Church  no  General  Conference  has  approached  in  point  of 
importance  this  Missionary  Conference  now  being  held.  There 
has  never  been  such  breadth  of  thought,  such  unselfish  devotion 
to  duty,  such  sweet  sense  of  comradeship;  there  has  never  been  a 
greater  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  God  than  in  this  Con- 
ference. It  is  the  missionary  idea  taking  hold,  the  revival  idea, 
the  Christian  idea,  the  fundamental  idea,  the  organizing  idea,  the 
inspiring  idea ;  and  it  is  for  us  to  go  out  from  this  great  occasion 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  with  him  at  the  head  of  our  advan- 
cing column,  to  march  forth  to  a  blessed  and  glorious  victory. 

I  believe  I  have  already  said  that  the  greatest  events  of  the  last 
century  were  in  its  last  year :  that  desperate  attempt  by  China,  the 
stronghold  of  heathenism,  to  drive  out  the  Christian  religion,  fol- 
lowing closely  upon  the  great  Ecumenical  Conference  of  Mis- 
sionaries and  Christians  held  in  the  metropolis  of  our  nation.  I 
read  nothing  in  our  history  that  can  compare  with  that  wonderful 
scene  when  the  nations  were  with  one  accord  watching  the  walls 
of  Peking, and  with  those  others, cooped  up  in  the  British  Lega- 
tion, watching  with  prayer  to  Almighty  God.  And  you  know  what 
occurred.  When  those  ministers  representing  the  great  nations  of 
Christendom  were  confined  there,  with  a  little  handful  of  marines 
to  guard  them,  gathering  in  the  native  Christians  for  their  pro- 
tection, when  prayer  was  going  up  without  ceasing  in  all  the  Chris- 
tian lands  of  the  earth,  and  from  those  Ministers  of  state  as  well 
as  from  the  Christian  missionaries  and  native  Christians,  but  one 
heart  failed  in  all  that  beleagured  group,  and  that  was  the  heart  of 
the  French  Minister,  an  avowed  and  boastful  atheist.  All  the  rest 
believed  that  they  would  be  saved  and  that  their  prayers  would 
prevail — and  they  did.  How  they  watched  and  waited,  these  Chris- 
tians, for  the  advance  of  the  rescuing  columns  into  the  populous 


THE    HEALING    OF   THE    NATIONS.  45 

heathen  empire,  believing  and  knowing  that  the  God  that  was 
with  them  was  mightier  than  all  the  foes  that  were  against  them. 
One  rush  of  those  cruel  Boxers  upon  that  Legation  would  have 
crushed  the  life  out  of  every  person  that  was  there ;  but  our  God, 
in  whose  hands  are  the  hearts  of  kings,  which  he  turns  as  rivers 
of  water,  put  a  spirit  of  fear  upon  them  that  made  it  impossible. 
And  the  sound  of  the  rapid-fire  guns  in  the  distance  was  more 
thrilling  than  when,  in  the  city  of  Lucknow,  the  music  of  the  Scot- 
tish bagpipes  told  of  the  coming  of  the  rescuing  column. 

It  was  the  Christian  nations  at  prayer,  and  when  heathenism 
threw  down  the  challenge,  God  answered  us  and  wrought  the  res- 
cue of  our  beleagured  brethren.  And  through  it  all  the  courage 
of  the  Church  has  been  strengthened,  and  the  love  of  the  Church 
has  never  failed ;  for  it  is  only  through  love  that  the  heathen  heart 
can  be  conquered.  God  grant  that  missionaries  may  never  have 
part  or  parcel  with  any  of  those  land-grabbing  and  selfish  schemes 
that  are  so  untrue  to  the  spirit  of  the  Lord ;  but  may  he  possess 
them  with  the  spirit  of  love,  to  go  forth  with  pure  hearts  fervidly 
proclaiming  that  gospel  which  is  the  gospel  of  blessed  triumph, 
here  and  hereafter,  the  power  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  the 
world ! 


THE  HEALING  OF  THE  NATIONS. 

BISHOP   J.  M.  THOBURN,  D.D. 

"And   the   leaves   of   the   tree   were    for  the  healing  of  the  nations." 

(Rev.  xxii.  2.) 

Ix  giving  a  revelation  of  spiritual  truth  to  the  world  God  seems 
to  have  employed  in  a  large  measure  what  in  modern  phrase  is 
called  the  kindergarten  method.  In  other  words,  our  Bible  The  visi 
abounds  in  object  lessons.  The  prophets  resorted  to  this  method 
constantly,  and  even  ordinary  Bible  history  is  made  to  serve  as 
a  series  of  such  lessons.  The  opening  chapters  of  Genesis  in  this 
way  reveal  the  great  truths  which  form  the  basis  of  that  vital  pow- 
er which  we  call  Christianity,  and  in  the  closing  chapters  of  the 
book  of  Revelation  the  same  method  is  employed  in  showing"  us 
in  outline  the  beauties  and  glories  of  the  world  to  come.  In  fact. 
no  other  method  could  have  been  employed  in  the  far-off  age  of 


46  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

THOB-JRN.  the  World's  childhood,  and  in  our  own  time  no  other  method  can 
be  used  in  describing  a  state  of  existence  in  which  spiritual  law  is 
supreme.  We  have  thus  brought  before  us  the  great  white  throne, 
the  last  scene  in  the  history  of  the  human  race,  and  then  a  glow- 
ing picture  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  with  Jerusalem 
the  Golden,  robed  in  resplendent  beauty,  but  no  temple  is  seen 
within  its  walls.  The  throne  of  God  is  no  longer  veiled.  The 
pure  in  heart  now  see  God  in  very  deed.  God  the  Father  and 
Christ  the  Eternal  Son  sit  upon  the  joint  throne  of  the  universe, 
while  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  bright  as  crystal,  proceeds  from 
the  throne,  and  flows  down  the  broad  street,  with  trees  of  life 
growing  upon  its  banks  and  yielding  perennial  fruit.  This  river  of 

its  mealing.  tne  water  of  life  can  be  none  other  than  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
whole  scene  brings  before  us  the  most  remarkable  of  the  theopha- 
nies  of  the  Bible.  The  Father  and  the  Son,  with  the  Spirit  for- 
ever "proceeding,"  stand  revealed  before  the  glorified  saints  who 
realize  the  full  meaning  of  the  promise  that  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
see  God. 

But  this  heavenly  scene,  though  placed  in  vision  so  far  in  the 
future,  is  open  to  the  eye  of  faith  even  now.  Jesus  even  now  sits 
at  God's  right  hand,  and  has  entered  upon  his  reign.  The  Spirit 
even  now  proceeds  forth  in  his  own  person  embodying  the  divine 
energy,  which  is  forever  operative  throughout  the  universe.  The 
vision  is  set  before  a  suffering  world,  and  nations  blighted  by  sin 
are  pointed  to  the  trees  of  life  which  line  the  banks  of  the  crystal 
"  stream,  the  leaves  of  which  are  potent  to  heal  the  world.  The 
.  mysterious  tree  of  life  in  Eden  and  the  mysterious  trees  in  Eze- 
kiel's  vision  are  now  recalled  to  mind  with  new  interest.  The  Di- 
vine Antitype  is  now  before  us.  The  river  represents  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  trees  with  healing  leaves  represent  those  agencies 
employed  by  the  Spirit  in  the  great  work  of  overthrowing  Satan's 
kingdom,  neutralizing  the  power  of  sin,  and  establishing  the  king- 
dom of  God  among  men. 

In  examining  this  beautiful  and  comprehensive  promise,  two 
thoughts  challenge  our  attention.  First,  the  afflictions  which 
have  befallen  the  nations ;  and  secondly,  the  healing  power  which 
is  promised. 

I.  It  need  hardlv  be  said  that  ours  is  a  sorely  stricken  world, 
se. 

The  blight  of  sin  has  left  its  dark  trace  upon  it  everywhere.    Gross 

moral  darkness  still  envelops  the  nations.     The  mental  powers 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  47 

of  whole  empires  seem  to  be  in  a  state  of  partial  paralysis.     War  THOBC-RN. 

spreads  devastation  abroad;  famine  and  pestilence  stalk  forth 

in  many  lands ;  grinding  poverty  is  the  lot  of  a  large  majority  of  Th<,  ,oli  ht  of 

the  race ;  cruelty  and  oppression  are  still  enthroned  in  high  places  sin. 

through  more  than  half  the  inhabited  earth.     In  short,  our  world 

is  full  of  disorders  of  many  kinds,  but  all  can  be  traced  ultimately 

to  the  blight  of  sin. 

Going  over  this  world,  as  I  have  been  doing  for  many  years 
past,  I  have  been  among  people  of  many  nations.  They  differ 
in  many  things.  I  am  now  in  charge  of  a  mission  where  we  are 
preaching  in  twenty-five  different  languages.  They  differ  in  lan- 
guage ;  they  differ  in  complexion ;  they  differ  in  many  respects  in 
character;  but  in  one  respect  they  are  all  alike.  Their  sins  are 
the  same ;  their  inward  tendencies  are  the  same ;  the  consequen- 
ces of  their  sins  are  the  same.  There  is  a  blight  that  comes  upon 
all,  and  it  is  exactly  alike  in  all  countries.  There  is  no  more  strik- 
ing example  of  the  sameness  of  human  nature  than  will  be  found 
when  you  look  into  the  moral  conditions  of  the  nations. 

The  results  of  these  sins  are  multiform.  I  have  not  time  to 
particularize  them,  but,  in  the  first  place,  there  is  something  in 
the  nature  of  sin  that  obscures  the  moral  vision,  the  spiritual  per- 
ceptions of  men,  so  that  they  are  led  astray;  and  while  it  should  nes"s/ 
be  the  simplest  thing  in  this  wide  world  for  any  member  of  this 
race  to  find  God,  the  common  Father  of  all  humanity,  yet  you  may 
search  up  and  down  among  the  nations,  and  until  you  find  some- 
body who  has  found  Jesus  Christ  through  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  you  cannot  find  any  one  who  can  tell  you  how  to  find 
God.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  speculation,  or  what  you 
might  call  general  moralizing;  but  in  the  space  of  more  than  forty 
years  I  have  never  met  a  man  or  woman  who  had  a  personal 
knowledge  of  God,  unless  it  was  some  one  who  had  found  him 
through  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  There  is  the  fact. 

Again,  man}-  of  these  people  have  a  spiritual  temperament,  Inu 
you  will  notice  this  :  their  view  of  immortality  is  very  dim  :  practi- 
cally, they  have  no  idea  of  any  such  thing.  For  instance,  you  will 
hear  a  great  deal — in  fact,  I  read  only  the  other  day  a  magazine  *°  .?~«^°a 
article  on  the  subject — of  how.  from  the  time  of  the  ancient  Greek 
philosophers,  there  have  been  people  who  were  familiar  with  the 
great  truth  of  man's  immortalitv.  "\Yhat  the  writer  of  that  arti- 


48  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

THOBURN.  c]e  meant  was  that  there  had  been  through  these  ages  persons 
more  or  less  familiar  with  speculation  on  the  subject,  and  we  may 
talk  to  thousands  of  such  men.  I  have  met  Mohammedans  who 
had  a  clear  idea  that  when  they  died  they  would  be  introduced 
into  a  celestial  World;  but  the  idea  of  immortality  in  the  sense  in 
which  we  understand  it  is  something  they  know  nothing  about. 
Immortality,  as  Jesus  taught  it,  is  something  we  realize  here ;  it 
is  something  we  can  spiritually  taste ;  it  is  a  foretaste,  an  earnest 
(if  I  may  borrow  a  phrase  of  Paul's),  of  a  better  world.  No  Mo- 
hammedan knows  anything  of  a  future  state  of  existence,  except 
in  a  material  sense ;  at  least  I  have  never  met  one  who  had  such  an 
idea.  I  have  put  this  question  time  and  time  again  to  intelligent 
Hindoos,  including  some  men  who  have  adopted  the  skepticism 
of  England,  America,  and  Germany :  "Where  do  you  expect  to  go 
when  you  die?"  Some  of  them  will  say:  "I  cannot  know." 
That  is  considered  a  smart  answer  in  these  days.  Others  will  say  : 
"Why,  I  really  haven't  thought  of  it."  Some  may  say :  "Why,  at 
a  future  time  I  expect  to  be  merged  back  again  into  the  infinite- 
spirit  from  which  I  came.  Just  as  the  raindrop  that  conies  down 
from  the  clouds  rises  again  in  mist  and  is  sent  back  to  the 
clouds,  forever  up  and  down  between  the  cloud  above  and  the 
ocean  below,  so  I  will  be  flitting  between  God  and  this  world.1'' 
But  I  would  say  to  such  a  man:  "If  you  were  to  die  at  twelve 
o'clock  to-night,  where  would  you  be  to-morrow  morning  at  six 
o'clock?"  If  he  had  any  idea  at  all,  it  will  be  that  his  conscious- 
ness will  have  vanished  for  the  time  being ;  but  the  more  common 
answer  is:  "How  should  I  know?  How  can  I  tell?"  If  among 
all  the  members  of  the  human  race  there  is  a  man  who  can  say 
''I  know,"  and  that  man  is  not  a  Christian,  I  should  like  to  see 
him.  The  truth  that  comes  to  one  who  has  had  Christ  revealed 
within  him  as  the  hope  of  glory  is  something  that  is  peculiar  to 
the  Christian  faith  alone. 

Po-verty.  ^n  ^'ne  next  place,  the  blight  of  poverty  is  upon  this  world. 

You  may  ask,  "Is  that  sin?"  It  is  a  consequence  of  sin.  Jesus 
said  (and  it  is  one  of  the  most  striking  truths  in  his  Sermon  on 
the  Mount) :  "The  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth."  I  should  advise 
all  the  young  preachers  here  to  study  that  word  "meek,"  and  sec 
the  distinction  between  meekness  and  humility ;  for  there  is  a 
difference.  It  means  a  great  deal ;  it  is  probably  the  highest 
quality  of  the  Christian  character,  next  to  that  you  may  call  a 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  49 

"saving  faith  in  Christ.''  The  meek  are  the  chosen  people,  who  T1IOIiL'RN- 
as  a  rule  do  not  light  for  their  rights ;  the  people  who  seem  to  be 
forever  losing.  They  are  the  people  who  do  not  die  of  starvation, 
whose  children  do  not  go  naked,  people  who  are  cared  for ;  and 
in  the  long  run  the  secret  of  the  industrial  prosperity  of  nations 
is  dependent  upon  quiet,  humble,  self-abnegating  people  who  are 
called  the  meek  of  the  earth.  There  is  an  element  of  prosperity 
that  they  impart  to  any  community. 

You  have  no  idea  how  poor  the  nations  are  that  know  not  God. 
It  is  a  common  belief,  much  more  common  formerly  than  now, 
that  India  is  one  of  the  richest  countries  in  the  world.  The  papers 
have  been  telling  for  the  past  two  years  that  China  is  perhaps 
the  very  richest  nation  on  the  globe;  and  in  many  senses  there 
may  be  a  gloss  of  truth  in  a  statement  of  that  kind.  But  in  India  A  hungry 
and  China,  and  pagan  Africa,  there  will  be  a  hundred  million 
people  who  will  lie  down  and  sleep  to-night  without  having  eater, 
more  than  one  very  frugal  meal  during  the  day,  and  without  any 
shelter  over  them  except  perhaps  the  branches  of  a  hospitable 
tree.  More  people  than  you  have  in  all  these  United  States  will 
sleep  out  of  doors  to-night,  and  go  to  bed  more  or  less  hungry. 
There  are  two  hundred  millions  of  people  in  those  countries  who 
are  so  accustomed  to  going  to  sleep  without  having  eaten  all  that 
hunger  craved  that  the  circumstance  excites  no  surprise  in  their 
minds. 

"Rut  where  do  they  sleep?  I  have  known  men  by  the  tens  of  Their  beds, 
thousands,  I  have  been  stumbling  over  them  these  forty  years, 
who  lie  down  and  sleep  just  where  night  finds  them.  They  lie 
down  just  as  the  dog  lies  down,  in  the  nearest  place  where  they 
can  get  enough  room.  You  will  find  them  along  the  pavements  of 
Calcutta:  yon  will  find  them  all  through  the  streets  of  Bombay. 
Then,  when  you  come  to  think  of  their  wives  and  children,  the 
idea  of  poverty  is  such  that  there  is  no  person  in  this  room,  ex- 
cept the  half-dozen  missionaries  around  me,  who  ever  saw  a  poor 
man.  You  think  you  have  seen  one,  but  you  never  did.  The  very  Real  poverty. 
tramps  that  roam  over  the  country  in  these  United  States,  if  out 
yonder  in  India,  would  be  recognized  as  "swells"  by  the  people. 

Much   nonsense  is  talked  about  this  world  having  an   over- 
population :  but  that  is  a  doctrine  that  the  Christian  should  give 
no  heed  to.     The  world  can  feed  ten  times  the  number  of  people 
on  it  to-day,  if  they  will  but  keep  the  laws  of  God  ;  if  they  are 
4 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Qvsr  popula- 
tion. 


War. 


India  as  it 
v/as. 


willing  to  work,  and  to  go  where  they  are  needed ;  if  they  will 
cease  to  crowd  together  in  places  where  God  never  put  them;  if 
they  will  keep  the  laws  of  God  and  dry  up  their  saloons,  abolish  all 
open  sin,  and  put  an  end  to  gambling  in  high  places  as  well  as  in 
low.  If  you  will  take  hold  of  sin  in  the  forms  in  which  your  news- 
papers are  constantly  publishing  it,  and  deal  with  it  as  it  deserves, 
then  God  will  be  honored,  his  laws  will  be  honored,  and  you  will 
begin  to  discover  that  there  is  more  of  what  you  might  call  "indus- 
trial wisdom"  in  the  Bible  than  this  world  knows  anything  about 
at  the  present  time. 

Time  will  not  permit  us  to  speak  of  other  afflictions  that  have 
come  upon  the  nations.  But  some  one  may  say :  "You  have  omit- 
ted all  mention  of  war,  and  the  worst  thing  about  it  is  that  the 
Christian  nations  are  the  ones  that  prosecute  the  most  terrible 
wars,  and  Christianity  seems  thus  to  be  inconsistent  with  itself." 
Well,  my  friends,  there  is  a  difference,  and  it  is  here :  I  don't  pre- 
tend to  say  that  the  Christian  nations  have  quit  fighting;  I  don't 
pretend  to  say  that  their  wars  are  all  just;  but  I  do  say  that  the 
great  wars  of  Christian  nations,  since  at  least  the  past  fifty  years 
(and  you  may  even  go  beyond  that),  have  been  overruled,  in  the 
providence  of  God.  in  the  interest  of  peace.  We  read  in  one  of 
Montgomery's  hymns  :  "By  death  I  shall  escape  from  death,  and 
life  eternal  gain."  Xow,  in  the  strange  providence  of  God,  I 
believe  that  our  world  is  going  to  escape  from  war  by  war.  Ail 
the  great  wars  that  have  taken  place  since  I  was  a  boy  have  been 
in  the  outcome  in  the  interest  of  peace.  For  instance,  in  the  coun- 
try where  I  have  been  living  war  was  chronic.  Every  year  in  the 
month  of  October  there  were  three  great  armies  that  marched 
out  of  the  old  Mahratta  capital  in  Western  India ;  one  army 
going  north,  one  south,  and  the  third  east.  They  went  out  to 
ravage  and  kill ;  they  destroyed  cities  and  overran  provinces. 
Annually  for  many  years  India  had  that  scourge.  There  was 
never  a  time  when  the  great  nations  of  India  were  at  peace;  for 
India  is  as  large  as  Europe  west  of  Russia,  and  has  a  larger  popu- 
lation, forming  a  great  many  different  nations,  with  a  great  many 
different  languages.  They  used  to  be  at  war  all  the  time,  but 
there  is  a  difference  to-day,  for  everywhere  the  British  flag  is 
recognized  throughout  that  vast  empire,  and  among  three  hun- 
dred millions  of  people  there  are  no  wars,  and  I  very  much  doubt 
if  we  shall  ever  have  one  there.  It  has  all  been  in  the  interest  of 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  51 

peace.  Boys  in  India  do  not  carry  firearms,  concealed  or  other-  T:Io:«-<(*- 
wise.  We  have  no  such  riots  as  you  have  in  another  country  cf 
the  Western  Hemisphere;  in  fact,  we  arc  a  model  country,  so  far 
as  public  order  is  concerned.  You  ask :  "Is  the  hand  of  the 
British  Government  so  heavy  on  the  people  that  they  can  be  con- 
trolled in  that  way?"  Well,  the  fact  is  that  they  have  all  been 
brought  into  a  state  of  greater  content  than  they  have  ever  known  The  3-oys  of 
before.  They  like  peace  ;  the  great  mass  of  the  people  love  peace,  peace. 
There  are  turbulent  people,  of  course  ;  but  disarm  these  turbulent 
people,  and  you  will  have  no  more  trouble.  I  believe  in  a  good 
time  coming  for  all  the  nations ;  and  I  believe  the  time  is  coming 
for  the  United  States  of  America  when  it  will  be  considered 
ungentlemanly  for  any  man  to  carry  a  revolver.  It  is  a  relic  of 
barbarism;  and  if  you  say  that  you  cannot  be  safe  without  a  re- 
volver, think  how  you  are  reflecting  upon  the  country  to  which 
you  belong !  I  would  not  say  that  of  my  countrymen  in  India. 

Again,  take  China.  People  have  been  saying  that  the  Euro- 
pean nations  have  gone  to  China,  and  are  there  introducing 
bloody  wars,  and  all  of  that.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  say  that  China 
lias  been  at  peace  through  all  these  centuries.  We  don't  know  China 
anything  about  what  has  been  going  on  in  that  vast  kingdom  dur- 
ing all  these  ages.  I  dare  say  that  there  have  been  great  wars 
and  rivers  of  blood  in  China;  but  now  God  is  going  to  put  that 
great  empire  under  such  control — lie  is  evidently  going  to  do  it 
— that  it  will  become  as  peaceable,  and  have  the  same  chance  of 
progress,  as  India  to-day.  That  will  account  for  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  the  human  race  :  and  Africa  will  soon  be  in  a 
similar  condition. 

II.  Xow,  about  the  healing  leaves.  I  have  said  that  the  river  of 
the  water  of  life  is  intended  to  represent  the  Holy  Spiric  of  God, 
:  >rever  proceeding  from  Father  and  Son.  Upon  the  banks  the 
prophet  saw,  in  his  vision,  the  tree  of  life,  bearing  perennial  trim. 
and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  i 
would  interpret  that  by  saying  that  it  means  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  vitalize  such  agencies  as  God  sees  proper  to  employ,  and  make 
them  effective  in  doing  the  great  work  of  healing  the  nations. 
What  are  Niose  agencies?  Some  one  will  say:  "You  evidently 
;nean  the  gospel  of  Christ."  But  that  word  "gospel,"  on  men's 
lips  to-dav.  may  mean  anything  or  it  may  mean  nothing— and  ™e  tr-a  o£ 
it  often  means  nothing.  I  would  rather  make  it  more  direct. 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


THOKUK.V. 


The  Spirit  re- 
veals Christ. 


The  Lord  is 
risen  indeed. 


If  you  take  the  word  ''gospel"  in  its  strictest  sense,  it  is  the  proc- 
lamation of  Christ ;  and  Christ  is  manifested  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  first  great  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  to  manifest  Christ  to 
his  own  believers.  Jesus  Christ  is  alive  to-day ;  he  is  in  this 
world.  If  you  think  Paul  had  a  special  miracle  wrought  in  his 
case  when  he  says  that  it  pleased  the  Father  to  reveal  the  Son  in 
him,  you  are  mistaken.  I  am  talking  to  men  and  women  who 
know  Jesus  Christ  better  than  they  know  me,  far  better  than  they 
know  any  person  in  this  world.  Some  of  you  understand  me  per- 
fectly. The  great  truth  which  the  Christian  Church  needs  to 
iearn  to-day,  and  to  thoroughly  master,  is  that  Christ  is  manifest- 
ed to  his  own.  And  he  is  not  only  manifested  to  them,  but  he  is 
with  them  in  the  world.  You  can  talk  to  him  to-night.  You 
may  ask:  "Will  he  reply?"  He  will  reply,  sometimes  through 
his  providence,  sometimes  through  his  Word,  sometimes  by  a 
whisper  from  his  own  loving  lips,  and  oftentimes  by  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Spirit  which  only  the  believer  can  understand;  but  I 
would  feel  as  if  my  gospel  were  gone  if  I  did  not  know  that  there 
is  One  above  all  others  in  this  world,  whom  I  can  seek  and  find, 
and  with  whom  I  can  h  }ld  converse  before  I  sleep  to-night.  Here 
is  the  great  truth. 

I  meet  a  man  now  and  then  who  wants  to  debate  with  me  on 
the  resurrection.  In  these  days  we  have  so  much  controvcrsv 
and  so  many  doubts.  I  heard  a  revivalist  preaching  with  all  his 
might  against  evolution,  and  I  ventured  to  say  that  evolution 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  commission  that  God  had  given  him. 
Some  may  say  that  it  had  ;  but  the  only  thing  that  concerned  that 
revivalist  was  to  preach  Christ.  If  a  man  says,  '"'I  believe  this, 
that,  or  the  oilier  thing."  it  is  in  some  cases  a  mere  matter  of 
speculation;  in  some  cases  it  is  a  matter  of  study;  in  some  cases 
it  is  a  matter  of  testimony.  Some  one  will  ask:  ''Do  you  believe 
miracles  possible?"  Well,  1  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  rose  from 
the  dead  ;  and  if  he  did  that  was  a  miracle.  "But  do  you  really 
believe  that  he  did?"  Well,  1  was  not  present  at  the  time,  but  he 
is  living  now,  and  I  believe  he  died  on  Calvary.  Xow,  do  you  be- 
lieve that?  ''Well,  I  suppose  he  did,"  you  answer.  Well,  if  you 
can  testify  that  he  died  on  Calvary,  I  can  testify  that  he  is  living 
now,  for  I  have  talked  with  him  to-day. 

When  vou  begin  to  talk  this  way  there  is  one  thing  you  will 
find  out.  Men  who  wish  to  arcfue  will  lose  their  zest  for  argu- 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  53 

ment.  Men  who  started  out  to  contend  that  such  things  cannot  T"°'! 
be  true  will  drop  you  as  if  they  had  caught  hold  of  a  red-hot  piece 
of  iron.  They  do  not  want  testimony  of  that  kind.  Why?  I 
think  it  has  something  to  do  with  a  man's  spiritual  state.  If  you 
will  allow  me  to  refer  to  myself,  I  will  tell  you  a  bit  of  experience. 
When  I  went  out  to  India,  like  most  young  men  I  was  fond  of 
controversy ;  and  when  I  had  learned  the  language  so  that  I  could 
talk  to  the  natives,  and  had  read  up  in  controversy,  I  began  tc 
think  that  I  could  meet  any  of  them  in  argument ;  but  later  on  it 
dawned  upon  me  that,  if  I  were  to  live  a  thousand  years,  I  would 

never  get  anvbodv  into  the  better  world  through  controversy.  _. 

Value  of  expe 

Then  it  became  more  and  more  impressed  upon  me,  as  I  got  near-  rience. 
er  and  nearer  to  Christ,  that  I  had  never  received  a  mission  from 
him  to  argur  with  anybody ;  and  I  remembered  my  commission, 
received  when  I  was  but  a  boy  of  twenty-one.  I  had  become  ex- 
tremely unhappy  about  my  mission.  No  one  seemed  to  get  any 
good  from  my  preaching.  So  I  went  in  prayer  one  day  in  the 
woods  and  talked  with  God,  and  while  praying  Christ  came  to  me 
and  said,  I  will  not  say  in  a  whisper,  but  it  was  just  as  real  as  if 
the  words  had  been  spoken,  "Go  preach  my  gospel."  And  I  felt 
immediately  as  if  there  had  been  a  rock  of  adamant  slipped  under 
iny  feet,  and  1  was  standing  upon  it.  And  from  that  clay  I  have- 
had  no  doubt  on  this  question.  I  remember  that  I  quit  controver- 
sy ;  and  I  have  not  preached  against  idolatry,  so  far  as  I  know,  for 
iwenty  years.  "What!"  you  say,  "you  have  been  in  India,  and 
have  not  preached  against  idolatry?"  Well,  I  have  not  the  time 
to  do  it.  I  am  there  to  preach  Christ  ;  and  if  I  can  get  these  peo- 
ple to  hear  my  story  of  a  risen  Christ,  their  idolatry  will  take  care 
of  itself,  and  they  will  soon  let  it  go. 

We  must  put  Christ  before  the  world  in  this  way,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  enable  us  to  do  it.  T>ut  yon  say  :  "You  simply  give  your 
testimony  that  Christ  is  living."  O.  T  do  more  than  that.  I  say 
that  he  is  alive  now.  that  he  is  here,  that  he  is  standing  beside  me, 
just  as  I  say  to  you  that  he  is  now  nearer  to  me  than  any  living 
soul.  And  that  is  the  great  testimonv  which  God  calls  upon  his 
Christian  workers  to  bear  to  this  world. 

In  another  Conference  somewhat  similar  to  this  I  made  a 
statement  which  was  misunderstood,  rind  I  wish  (parenthetical!^ 
to  restate  what  I  said  imperfectly  then.  I  was  understood  to  sav 
that  the  P>ib:e  was  not  the  real  foruvlation  of  the  Christian 


54 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


TIIOBVKN. 

The  Captain 
and  -.te  chart 


We  are  his 
witnesses. 


Church,  that  Christ  was  the  foundation;  and  this  was  considered 
by  some  to  be  a  very  grave  error.  I  wish  to  tell  you  exactly  how 
I  wish  to  put  it  now.  I  was  going  to  Manila  a  year  or  two  ago 
from  Singapore.  There  were  some  passengers  on  board  who  had 
never  been  on  those  seas  before,  and  they  asked  me  if  I  could  tell 
them  where  we  were.  I  replied  that  I  would  ask  the  captain.  I 
went  to  him  and  asked  if  he  could  tell  me  the  position  of  the  ship. 
He  said  :  "Come  to  my  room,  and  I  will  show  you."  So  I  went  up 
to  his  room, and  he  spread  out  a  chart, and  he  said,  "Here  are  three 
lines.  That  one  goes  direct  to  Hongkong;  that  one  goes  midway 
between  our  line  and  the  eastern  line,  which  follows  the  shelter 
of  the  islands.  My  owners  make  me  take  this  middle  line.  Over 
yonder  is  the  coast  of  Siam,  and  farther  up  there  is  Annam.  Up 
yonder  (putting  his  compass  to  a  point  on  the  map)  is  Hongkong, 
back  here  is  Borneo,  and  here  is  Manila;  and  the  ship,"  he  said, 
"is  just  here,''  and  he  showed  us  the  exact  point.  Now  that  was 
a  marvelous  chart,  but  as  I  looked  at  it  and  knew  exactly  where 
I  was,  it  did  not  occur  to  me  for  a  moment  that  the  chart  was 
greater  than  the  captain,  because  the  chart  could  not  sail  the  ship. 
The  captain  was  greater  than  the  chart,  but  he  recognized  the 
chart,  and  sailed  according  to  it. 

Jesus  is  my  captain,  and  the  Bible  is  my  chart.  I  am  sailing 
for  the  ever-green  shore,  and  I  shall  get  there.  That  is  what  I 
mean  when  I  say  that  Jesus,  the  living  Christ,  is  the  real  founda- 
tion of  the  Church.  Instead  of  saying  that  I  have  no  confidence  in 
the  Bible,  I  exalt  it :  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  cf 
prophecy,  and  the  prophetic  element  is  what  makes  the  Bible 
what  it  is. 

Has  it  nevei  occurred  to  you  that  Jesus  Christ  has  sent  you  into 
this  world  in  his  name  to  represent  him?  This  is  a  great  truth 
which  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  never  perfectly  learned.  Je- 
sus said  :  "The  works  that  I  do  shall  ye  do  also;  and  greater  work*; 
than  these  shall  ye  do;  because  I  go  unto  my  Father."  And  then. 
again,  we  are  to  show  him  to  the  world.  All  that  this  world 
knows  ab-V:t  God  was  taught  by  Christ,  and  in  order  to  do  it  h<" 
had  to  manifest  God  in  himself.  All  that  the  people  of  Xew  Or- 
leans know  about  Jesus  Christ  is  what  they  have  learned  from  hi- 
disciples  in  this  city.  All  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
know  concerning  him  i=  what  they  have  learned,  not  from  books. 
but  from  his  livinqf  di?cin]es:  and  it  i 
this  world  to  manifest  Christ. 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  55 

But  you  say  :  "We  are  poor,  dull  creatures  ;  we  cannot  represent   THOUL-RN. 
Jesus  Christ."     Yes,  my  brethren,  you  can.     You  are  more  like 
him  than  perhaps  you  are  aware  of.     We  have  an  idea  of  Christ 
that  I  think  is  a  very  false  one.     We  think  of  him  as  walking  about 

with  the  majesty  of  one  of  the  angels  of  God;  but,  on  the  other  . 

There  was  no 

hand,  he  was  one  of  the  simplest  men  that  ever  lived.     Wre  have  beautyjn 

no  idea  of  how  he  looked;  no  painter  can  draw  such  a  portrait;  him-" 

but  he  was  manifestly  a  very  ordinary  man  in  looks.     John  said 

that  when  he  was  baptizing1  the  multitude:  ''He  was  among  us, 

and  we  knew  him  not."     If  he  had  gone  there  with  the  majesty 

of  an  archangel,  everybody  would  have  noticed  him  and  followed 

him;  but  a  man  who  can  walk  through  a  crowd  for  several  days 

and  not  attract  notice  is  a  very  ordinary  man  in  looks.     And  I 

love  to  think  that  Jesus  was  much  like  myself  in  his  humanity. 

You  will  remember  that  he  grew  weary  when  he  was  walking 

through  the  country  to  Samaria,  and  sat  on  the  curb  of  the  well 

to  rest  himself.     A  thousand  times  over,  when  I  have  been  tired, 

I  have  remembered  that,  and  it  has  made  me  strong. 

He  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh ;  he  looked  like  you 
and  like  me.  But  there  was  this  difference  :  that  while  he  was  hu- 
man in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  yet  in  all  the  wide  world  there 
was  never  anybody  who  would  shrink  from  him,  except  those 
who  were  evil.  The  children  were  not  afraid  of  him;  the  poor 
people  were  not  afraid  of  him.  In  this  respect  he  was  exceptional. 

Now  we  are  to  reproduce  Christ,  and  in  order  to  do  that  ve 
must  lead  not  only  holy  lives,  but  pure  and  simple  lives.  Don't 
let  me  be  misunderstood  again.  Very  often  gospel  workers  get 

into  this  habit :  we  get  a  difference  of  tone,  a  difference  of  manner  :   How  to  rerrc" 

.  ,         &,  ...        dnce  Christ, 

we  create  an  ideal  of  our  own  that  is  not  correct.     Let  yourselt  be 

yourself  after  you  have  taken  up  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ.  Do 
not  adopt  a  special  tone,  do  not  have  any  mannerisms :  but  be  sim- 
ple, and  although  those  of  you  who  are  preachers  may  lose  your 
popularity  \vith  a  certain  class  of  people  who  don't  know  a  sermon 
when  they  hear  it,  yet  at  the  same  time  you  must  be  brave  enough 
to  have  it  said  that  you  can  talk  fairly  well,  but  you  can't  preach. 
On  the  other  hand,  you  cannot  have  a  better  exemplar  than 
Jesus  Christ.  T  remember  once,  many  years  ago.  when  I  was  a 
cripple,  I  came  to  this  country  and  spoke  in  public.  I  had  to 
take  my  choice  of  either  leaning  on  a  crutch  or  sitting  in  a  chair, 
and  I  chose  the  latter.  People  often  came  up  to  me  and  sympa- 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


THOBUKN. 


Simplicity  of 
Christ. 


Our  miracles. 


thized  with  me,  and  said :  "We  really  enjoyed  your  talk  just  as 
much  as  if  you  had  been  standing."  Well,  why  not? 
The  greatest  sermon  ever  preached  in  this  world  was  preached  by 
a  Alan  sitting  on  the  grass;  and  the  second  greatest  sermon  was 
preached  to  an  audience  of  one  person  with  the  Preacher  sitting 
on  the  curb  of  a  well,  and  the  one  person  composing  his  audience 
was  a  person  who  would  not  be  admitted  to  a  good  many  Metho- 
dist Churches  in  these  United  States  to-day.  And  yet  that  ser- 
mon revolutionized  religious  worship  throughout  the  world  for 
all  time.  The  greatest  prophetic  discourse  that  was  ever  deliv- 
ered was  preached  by  that  same  Man  as  he  sat  on  the  hillside  and 
looked  clown  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  at  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 
And  another  of  his  greatest  sermons  was  preached  while  he  was 
sitting  in  a  boat  and  his  audience  were  standing  on  the  sands  o' 
the  shore.  Why  if  you  will  be  as  true  to  yourself  and  to  your  sur- 
roundings as  your  Master  was,  you  will  not  be  afraid  of  a  simple 
life  :  for  Christianity  has  nothing  about  it  that  is  pompous,  noth- 
ing that  is  stilted,  nothing  that  is  sensational.  Oh.  would  to  God 
that  every  Methodist  preacher  would  register  a  vow  in  his  inward 
soul  nevermore  to  announce  on  Saturday  that  he  would  preach  a 
sensational  sermon  the  next  day  ! 

We  are  Christ's  representatives,  and  we  are  to  do  his  works. 
You  ask  me  if  I  really  believe  we  can  do  Christ's  mighty  works: 
can  we  work  miracles?  Xo.  Then  do  I  believe  if  we  had  more 
faith  we  could  work  miracles?  Xo.  "Do  you  believe  if  we  had 
more  faith  we  could  relieve  the  sick?"  Well,  I  have  been  too  busy 
vith  the  work  Christ  has  given  me  to  do  to  speculate  on  such  sub- 
jects. I  have  prayed  sometimes  for  those  very  dear  to  me,  thai 
God  would  heal  them  ;  but  I  have  never  yet  reached  the  point 
where  I  could  lift  my  hand  before  God  and  say  it  -must  be.  I  believe 
God  has  heard  some  prayers  of  mine  in  cases  concerning  those 
very  dear  to  me.  but  in  other  cases  it  has  been  borne  into  my 
heart  as  directly  as  if  Christ  had  spoken  from  the  throne,  "I  want 
vour  child  :"  and  I  have  said.  "Take  her."  That  is  the  spirit  ot 
Jesus  Christ :  you  can  never  go  beyond  it. 

The1'  vou  ask:  "What  can  we  do?"  I  will  tell  you  what  you 
can  do.  There  was  once  a  doctor,  an  English  surgeon,  in  Cal- 
cutta, who  had  a  little  girl  six  or  seven  vears  of  age.  and  one  day 
he  said  to  me  :  "If  my  daughter  lives  to  grow  up,  T  hope  she  may 
take  a  fancv  to  the  studv  of  medicine  :  and  if  she  does,  I  wish  her 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  57 

to  make  a  specialty  of  eye  surgery."  I  asked  him  :  "What  is  your  TI[OB'-K 
notion  in  that?"  "Well,"  he  said,  "woman's  sense  of  touch  is 
more  delicate  than  man's ;  and  of  all  surgical  operations,  there 
are  none  requiring  more  delicacy  of  touch  than  those  connected 
with  the  eye.  I  should  feel  that  my  highest  wishes  were  gratified 
if  my  little  girl,  when  she  grows  up,  becomes  an  eye  surgeon,  be- 
cause I  think  she  would  be  peculiarly  qualified  for  it."  Now  I 
have  thought  that  religion  itself  required  delicacy  of  touch;  and 

there  are  some  who  are  expected,  not  to  heal  an  eve  that  is  in  a 

Spiritual  sur- 
cntical  condition,  but  to  bind  up  broken  heartstrings.     That  re-  gery. 

quires  a  kind  of  surgery  that  the  men  of  this  world  know  nothing 
about.  After  you  have  lived  among  the  people  and  in  touch  with 
them,  you  will  find  that  you  have  to  do  that  kind  of  work  nearly 
every  day.  More  hearts  are  aching  and  breaking  than  you  know 
anything  about,  and  as  you  get  nearer  to  Christ  you  will  find 
them. 

There  was  a  time  in  my  life  when  I  became  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  there  was  more  sickness  about  me  than  I  had  known  be- 
fore in  Lucknow.  I  happened  to  meet  one  of  the  surgeons,  and 
I  said  to  him  :  "There  is  a  great  deal  of  sickness  here."'  He  said:  fo 

ttG   HOS-j. 

"Xo,  I've  never  noticed  it."  "But  I  have  noticed  it/'  I  said;  "I 
seem  to  find  more  sickness  now  than  at  any  time  since  I  have 
been  in  the  station."  He  said  :  "I  can't  account  for  it,  but  you  an- 
mistaken;  there  is  no  more  sickness  now  than  before."  And  so 
I  began  to  look  into  the  case,  and  I  found  out  that  really  there 
was  only  about  as  much  sickness  as  usual,  but  I  hadn't  been  in 
touch  with  the  sufferers.  And  I  remembered  that  two  or  three 
weeks  before  I  had  been  drawn  nearer  to  Christ,  and  had  received 
what  I  might  call  a  revival  of  God's  work  in  my  heart,  which  had 
given  me  a  kind  of  unconscious  attraction  to  a  sick  bed,  so  that 
I  found  them  without  knowing  that  I  was  seeking  them.  And  it 
taught  me  a  lesson.  You  say:  "1  don't  stumble  over  many  such 
cases.  '  My  dear  brothers  and  sisters,  as  you  come  nearer  to 
Christ,  and  become  more  like  him,  you  will  find  that  there  is  a 
divine  attraction  that  will  lead  you  to  where  the  works  of  Christ 
can  be  performed. 

Coming  clown  Long  Island  Sound  a  few  years  ago,  a  friend  on 
board  asked  me  whether  I  wouldn't  like  to  go  into  the  dnamo  Christ's 


dynamos  were  revolving-.     Re  picked  up  a  large  .-tee!  hammer 


58  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

TuotiKN.  ancj  then  he  took  in  his  hand  a  magnet,  of  the  usual  horseshoe 
shape,  and  put  it  to  the  hammer,  and  asked  me  to  see  if  it  would 
bear  the  weight.  I  caught  the  magnet  and  it  dropped  off.  Then 
he  said,  "Go  a  little  nearer,"  and  I  walked  toward  the  dynamo 
slowly,  till  he  said,  "Now  try  it,"  and  I  did,  and  the  magnet  bore 
the  weight  of  the  big  hammer.  I  went  closer,  and  he  said,  "Try 
to  pull  them  apart."  But  I  couldn't  do  it ;  they  were  just  like  one 
metal.  Then  I  began  to  walk  backward.  "Now  try  it,"  he  said ; 
and  I  could  take  them  apart.  I  went  back  still  farther,  and  the 
magnet  dropped  off.  The  power  was  in  the  dynamo. 

I  have  found  personally,  and  you  will  find  the  same  thing,  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Dynamo  of  this  universe ;  and  as  you  go  near- 
er and  nearer  to  him,  the  divine  magnetism  will  flow  into  your 
souls,  and  you  will  be  drawn  to  objects  that  you  should  seek,  and 
away  from  those  you  should  shun;  and  yet  you  will  be  just  as 
natural  as  you  ever  were,  and  more  natural,  and  people  will  be 
less  afraid  of  you,  and  have  more  confidence  in  you.  You  will 
find  yourself  drawn  to  places  where  your  Master  would  be  drawn  ; 
drawn  there  to  represent  him  in  the  flesh.  And  what  a  delightful 
thought  it  is  that  we  walk  in  the  hallowed  footsteps  of  the  Son  of 
God! 

Now,  with  that  idea  before  us,  we  can  talk  about  our  great  mi>- 
ihe  work  of  sionary  work.  We  talk  about  the  world  being  converted  to  God. 
You  say  send  the  Bible  to  them.  Why  you  might  as  well  send 
telegraph  wires,  throw  them  down  here  and  there,  and  expect 
them  to  transmit  messages  without  intelligence  at  either  end. 
The  Bible  won't  convert  anybody  of  itself.  The  Bible  is  the  tele- 
graph wire,  but  you  must  have  the  eternal  God  at  the  one  end, 
and  a  believing  and  intelligent  person  at  the  other.  Then  you 
can  use  the  Bible.  So  it  is  not  what  we  call  truth,  it  is  not  Chris- 
tian mercy,  or  keeping  the  Sabbath  day,  or  this,  that,  or  the  other 
thing;  or  introducing  the  customs  of  our  country.  Nothing  of 
the  kind  ;  it  is  Christ. 

Take  some  young  Woman  out  of  this  audience  to-night.  She 
says  she  is  willing  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  some  country  in  trK- 
Eastern  world,  if  she  could  be  sent.  The  funds  are  provided,  and 
£he  f/oes  on  to  New  York.  Just  as  she  goes  down  into  the  steamer 
that  is  to  carry  her  across  the  broad  Atlantic,  there  will  be  seen  tlv 
unseen  presence  and  heard  the  silent  tread  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth 
by  her  side.  She  goes  on  that  steamer,  nnd  there  i?  a  pillow  spread 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  59 

by  the  Man  of  Nazareth.     She  reaches  her  destination,  and  goes  T"""™*- 
far  down  into  the  heathen  continent,  and  there  is  still  by  her  side   "LO,  i  am 
the  silent  tread  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth.     She  enters  the  lowly  with  y°u- 
huts;  she  may  be  rejected  a  dozen  times  as  her  Master  was  before 
her ;  but  somewhere,  as  she  tells  the  story  of  the  Word,  she  will  be 
welcomed  and  kindly  received,  and  some  one  there  will  be  made  a 
partaker  of  the  world  to  come.     Then,  when  the  young  disciple 
goes  out  of  that  home,  Jesus  will  remain.     She  goes  to  another, 
and  another,  and  all  the  time  she  is  bringing  Christ  to  the  people. 
We  are  here  to  have  Christ  represented  among  all  nations.  Can 
we  do  it?     I  say  we  can.     It  is  a  question  of  sending  out  those 
who  know  Christ  and  who  will  carry  him  to  the  people.     All  over 
the  world  they  are  doing  that  to-day.     Within  the  past  few  weeks 
I  received  a  letter  from  the  presiding  elder  in  the  Province  ot 
Gujarat,  who  savs  :  "Two  of  our  men  baptized  one  thousand  eight 

w flat  v-flnst 

hundred  converts  in  three  days,  and  there  are  six  or  eight  thou-  is  doing, 
sand  more  waiting."  Another  writes :  "Two  brothers  at  such 
and  such  a  place  have  a  thousand  converts  whom  they  are  wait- 
ing to  have  baptized,  but  we  can't  do  such  a  thing  out  there  un- 
til we  can  provide  culture  for  the  men  who  are  to  be  baptized.'' 
Jesus  said  :  "Go  and  disciple  all  nations,  teaching  them."  Teach- 
ing is  just  as  important  as,  and  more  so  than,  baptism. 

Again  a  missionary  down  on  the  Straits  of  Malacca  writes  : 
"\Ve  could  double  our  membership  in  twelve  months  if  we  could 
provide  teachers  for  the  people."  Another  writes  from  China 
that  a  whole  colony  of  Christianized  Chinamen  are  going  over  to 
Borneo,  and  Bishop  Warren  is  now  in  Borneo,  organizing  this 
Chinese  colony.  The  island  of  Borneo  is  as  large  as  France  ;  and 
as  to  China,  there  will  be  a  greater  opening  there  in  twelve  months 
than  ever  before.  God  is  calling,  and  what  are  we  doing?  We 
arc  not  equal  to  the  emergency.  The  Church  to  which  I  belong 
last  year,  for  all  her  mission  work  in  foreign  lands  and  home  fields, 

gave  the  sum  of  forty-five  cents  per  member !     Fortv-five  cents  '  T^hat  we  are 

donijr. 

I  am  ashamed  to  say  it,  and  yet  I  am  afraid  that  the  three  mil- 
lions of  our  Church  spend  as  much  money  for  chewing  gum  as 
they  do  for  saving  the  heathen  world.  We  are  trifling  with  the 
whole  subject.  We  think  things  can  be  done  simply  because  we 
sing  our  hymns,  because  we  offer  our  prayers,  because  we  make 
enthusiastic  addresses  to  the  public.  God's  voice  is  summoning; 
us ;  and  as  yet  it  is  the  voice  of  love.  I  rejoice  in  this  convention. 


60  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

KOULKN.  Well,  I  have  talked  so  long  on  these  side  issues  that  I  fear  i 

have  drifted  away  from  the  main  point;  but  before  I  close  J 
wish  to  recall  your  minds  to  the  objective  point  of  my  whole  talk. 
All  success  is  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  river  of  the  water 
of  life.  Some  one  may  say:  "I  have  prayed  for  the  Spirit  again 
and  again,  but  somehow  it  is  the  one  prayer  that  is  unanswered." 
I  know  what  you  mean  when  you  say  that.  I  used  to  pray  a  good 
deal  for  God  to  give  me  the  fullness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  I 
did  not  fully  understand  what  I  was  asking.  You  remind  me 
somewhat  of  the  boy  who  sees  that  beautiful  bright  electric  light. 
He  says  to  his  mother:  '''That's  a  pretty  light;  I  want  to  take  it 
home  with  me."  The  mother  says  :  "You  can't  do  it."  The  boy 
says  :  "I  don't  want  much,  but  just  enough  to  fill  my  hat ;"  and  the 
mother  replies,  "My  son,  you  cannot  take  that  light  unless  you 
take  the  lamp.  You  will  have  to  take  the  wire  with  you  also,  and 
then  you  can  have  the  light."  But  the  boy  cannot  understand 
why  he  cannot  get  the  light ;  he  cannot  understand  that  he  must 

cwer.  take  the  source  if  he  would  have  the  light.     Well,  you  have  prayed 

again  and  again  that  God  would  give  you  his  Spirit,  would  iill 
your  poor  heart  with  his  Holy  Spirit;  but  you  have  been  thinking 
ail  the  time  that  you  can  get  the  Holy  Spirit  apart  from  Christ. 
You  can't  do  it ;  yon  must  receive  the  Spirit  that  makes  Christ 
manifest  to  you. 

Xow,  you  pray  for  the  Spirit,  and  Christ  comes.  Who  makes 
him  visible?  The  Holy  Spirit;  that  is  his  mission;  he  "shall  not 
testify  himself,  but  he  shall  take  of  the  things  of  mine  and  show 
them  unto  you."  Take  Christ  into  your  heart  in  his  fullness,  and 
the  Spirit  will  be  a  perpetual  sunshine  in  your  soul,  manifesting 
Christ.  That  is  what  we  want.  "But,"  says  some  one,  "we  want 
the  mantle  of  power."  Well,  here  is  the  power.  But  you  want 
a  mantle  that  the  world  will  recognize.  Elisha  wanted  the  power 
of  Elijah,  and  when  Elijah  went  up  in  the  chariot  of  flame  there 
remained  an  old  blanket  lying  there.  He  didn't  have  much  to 
leave  in  this  world.  Elisha  went  out  and  picked  up  the  blanket. 
There-  is  a  dispute  among  the  writers  on  this  subject.  Some  say 
the  g-irment  was  of  camel's  hair,  and  some  say  that  it  was  sheep- 
skin :  but  it  was  a  robe  of  power  on  the  shoulders  of  Elisha. 

X<.w  you  say  you  want  the  mantle  of  Christ.  If  you  get  it.  you 
will  not  have  anything  that  the  world  will  account  valuable.  You 
will  -lirink  back  into  vourself  more  than  ever  before,  vou  will  be 


THOBLRN. 


THE    HEALING    OF    THE    NATIONS.  6l 

willing  to  be  quiet  and  unknown,  you  will  think  yourself  unwor- 
thy; but  somehow  or  other  the  works  of  Jesus  Christ  will  begin 

to  show  themselves  forth  in  you ;  and  while  you  may  not  be  a  pop- 

...        .       .  ,-11  %ri        His  mantle. 

ular  man  in  the  pulpit,  you  will  be  in  the  pew  and  m  the  home.  1  ne 

thing  that  Methodism  needs  more  than  anything  else  to-day  is  to 
have  men  and  women  take  up  the  work  of  Christ  who  will  go  out 
in  his  name  and  filled  with  his  spirit. 

Now  Jesus  says:  ''I  am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth."  My 
dear  friends,  this  world  would  recognize  the  disciples  of  Christ 
if  it  saw  that  we  were  eager  for  his  service;  and  his  service  is 
among  the  poor,  the  heartbroken,  the  downtrodden  and  forsaken 
of  men.  There  is  plenty  of  work  to  do  everywhere ;  and  if  we 
would  only  go  forth  earnestly  in  that  hallowed  name,  Methodism 
would  have  a  power  in  these  United  States  that  wras  never  known 
before.  I  take  it  that  the  six  million  Methodist  communicants 
of  this  world  ought  to  add  five  million  members  to  the  Church  ev- 
ery year.  You  say  the  like  was  never  heard  of ;  why,  it  would  not 
be  one  apiece.  We  have  been  waiting  through  all  these  year  =  , 
without  making  a  deliberate  calculation  of  what  God  expected  us 
to  do.  As  I  look  up,  it  seems  to  me  as  if  I  see  yonder  shining 
throne.  Oh,  that  vision  conies  to  me  so  vividly!  There  is  God 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  God  the  Father  and  the  Lamb.  There 
is  that  crystal  Stream  forever  proceeding;  and  all  the  power  thr.: 
was  ever  given  to  Jesus  is  offered  to  us  in  the  person  of  that  Floly 
Spirit.  We  are  to  do  greater  works  than  the  Master  wrought  on 
earth.  Let  us  receive  that  hallowed  river,  and  Pentecost  will  b.- 
ours. 

Long  ages  ago  the  wild  Indian  used  to  come  and  look  at  the 
tails  of  Xiagara.  lie  would  simply  gaze,  and  pass  on.  To  him  it 
was  a  mighty  body  of  water,  and  nothing  else.  Then  a  European 
came  along  and  said.  "This  is  the  most  wonderful  waterfall  on  this 
earth."  and  he  passed  on.  After  a  time,  other  Europeans  came  Harnessing: 
and  said  :  "If  we  could  only  utilize  the  power  in  that  waterfall,  we  our  rfia£:ara> 
would  do  great  things."  There  came  a  man  one  day  who  said, 
"\\ell,  I  can  at  least  have  a  flouring  mill  here."  and  he  turned 
aside  enough  of  the  torrent  to  use  the  power.  Other  men  came 
and  said  :  "We  will  dig  through  the  rock  and  open  a  tunnel  bv 
which  we  will  carry  the  water  off  and  have  a  system  of  flouring 
mills."  And  they  did  it.  Then  came  a  man  of  science,  and  he 
said,  "That  great  torrent  is  a  source  of  electric  power,  and  I  will 


62  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

THC.3L-KX.  use  tiiat  power ;  and  I  will  attach  the  wires  from  this  place  to  Buf- 
falo and  Lockport,  and  will  illuminate  the  streets  of  those  cities." 
And  he  did  it.  Other  men  came  and  said,  "We  will  use  this 
electric  power  in  running  the  greatest  manufacturing  plants  in. 
the  United  States,"  and  they  are  building  them.  Then  Tesla  came 
along,  and  said:  "I  have  discovered  a  method  by  which  I  can 
transmit  the  electricity  without  waste,  to  New  York  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Chicago  on  the  other."  And  he  looked  at  that  water- 
fall, and  in  substance  laid  one  hand  on  New  York  and  the  other 
on  Chicago,  and  said:  ''Here  is  the  power  that  will  drive  all  the 
manufacturing  plants  of  the  two  greatest  cities  on  the  continent.'' 
How  marvelous  it  is !  It  was  there  when  the  wild  Indian  saw 
the  falls,  but  he  didn't  know  it.  It  was  there  when  the  first  man 
utilized  the  power  of  the  water,  but  he  did  not  comprehend.  So 
we  have  been  gazing  on  the  river  of  life.  We  are  not  like  the  wild 
Indian  ;  we  have  known,  but  we  have  not  proved  the  mighty  power 
of  that  river.  There  it  lies  before  us ;  it  is  ours,  with  all  its  possi- 
bilities of  divine  grace,  and  the  Master  is  pointing  us  upward  and 
saying:  ''All  the  works  I  did  on  earth,  ye  shall  do  also,  and  great- 
er works  than  these."  And  what  remains  for  us  to  do?  Simplv 
to  look  up  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  call  that  water  ours. 
The  mighty  Spirit  of  God  is  mine  to-night,  and  I  seem  to  grasp 
the  promises.  I  look  steadfastly  upon  the  heavenly  scene,  for  it 
i?  heaven  opened  to  the  gaze  of  faith,  and  say : 

River  of  God,  I  greet  thee! 

Not  now  afar,  hut  near, 
My  soul  to  thy  pure  waters 

Hastes  in  its  thirstinsrs  here. 


Holy  River,  let  me  ever 
Drink  of  only  thee. 


OXEXESS  IX  CHRIS'l  . 

REV.   ALEXANDER    SUTHERLAND,   D.D. 

IT  would  be  impossible  to  speak  on  such  a  theme  as  "Oneness  in 
Christ"  without  having  in  mind  the  words  spoken  by  the  Master 
in  the  upper  room  on  the  night  in  which  he  was  betraved.  But 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST.  63 


SUTHBRr.AMD 


the  meaning  does  not  lie  upon  the  surface.     The  words  belong  to 
the  deep  sayings  of  Christ,  and  their  spiritual  import  can  be  ap-  Chri3t,s 
prehended  only  by  spiritual  men.     It  may  aid  us,  however,  if  we  words, 
take  in  the  related  circumstances.     As  one  who  studies  a  famous 
picture  let  us  stand  back  a  little  so  as  to  get  the  right  perspective 
and  put  the  picture  in  a  proper  light. 

The  troubled,  sorrowful  years  of  Christ's  earthly  sojourn  were 
drawing  to  a  close.  First  there  had  been  the  years  of  inaction  and 
enforced  silence — years  in  which  he  saw  and  felt  the  terrible  mean- 
ing of  the  world's  sorrow  and  sin,  yet  spoke  no  word  and  wrought 
no  mighty  deed.  Then  came  the  three  years  of  his  public  minis- 
try ;  three  years  in  which  to  teach  a  blind,  sinning,  suffering  world 
the  way  to  the  Father;  three  years  in  which  to  give  that  world  an 
impulse  Godward  and  turn  it  from  darkness  toward  the  light ; 
three  years  into  which  he  must  compress  the  truth  that  would  suf- 
fice to  guide  the  human  race  through  all  the  centuries  of  its  his- 
tory till  the  consummation  would  be  reached, 

In  some  far-off  divine  event 

To  which  the  whole  creation  moves. 

Talk  we  of  enthusiasm  !  Oh,  if  Jesus  Christ  be  not  in  very  deed 
and  truth  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  such  an 
undertaking  must  be  regarded  as  the  very  insanity  of  enthusiasm  ! 

Roughly  divided,  each  year  of  the  three  has  its  own  character- 
istics. First,  there  was  a  year  of  preparatory  work,  teaching  and 
healing;  then  followed  a  year  of  popular  favor,  when  vast  crowd- 
listened  to  the  Master's  words.  ''The  common  people  heard  him 
gladly ;"  the  wealthy  entertained  him ;  rulers  and  wise  men 
came  to  him  for  light,  and  many  confessed  that  he  was  "a  teacher 
come  from  God."  His  name  was  on  every  lip,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  in  terms  of  commendation.  To  superficial  observers  it  must 
have  seemed  as  if  the  triumph  of  his  cause  was  assured.  But  the 
tide  quickly  turned.  The  third  year  saw  the  crowds  dwindling, 
''and  from  that  time  many  of  his  disciples  went  back  and  walked 
no  more  with  him."  Mutterings  of  discontent  began  to  be  heard, 
which  speedily  swelled  to  a  chorus  of  denunciation.  "He  hath  a 
devil  and  is  mad,"  said  some.  "He  casteth  out  devils  through 
Beelzebub  the  prince  of  devils,"  said  others.  "He  deceiveth  tiir- 
people,"  was  the  contention  of  many.  "He  is  a  blasphemer  and 
deserves  to  die,"  was  the  verdict  of  Pharisee  and  Sadducee  alike. 
The  rulers  opposed  him.  the  people  gave  him  up,  and  the  best  his 


64 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


SUT MEN LAND. 


The  closing 
tours. 


discourse. 


own  brethren  could  say  was:  "He  is  beside  himself."  From  the 
human  point  of  view  the  mission  of  Jesus  seemed  to  be  resulting- 
in  disastrous  failure. 

And  now  the  end  had  come.  Of  the  multitudes  who  had  fol- 
lowed him  in  earlier  days,  it  seemed  as  if  only  twelve  were,  left, 
and  one  of  these  a  traitor.  A  few  hours  later  they  all  would  for- 
sake him,  leaving  him  to  die  alone.  All  this,  and  much  more,  was 
present  to  the  mind  of  Jesus ;  but  nothing  disturbed  the  serenity 
of  his  spirit,  and  the  secret  we  find  in  his  own  words,  "Behold,  the 
hour  cometh,  yea,  is  come,  that  ye  shall  be  scattered,  every  man  to 
his  own,  and  shall  leave  me  alone  ;  and  yet  I  am  not  alone,  because 
the  Father  is  with  me."  It  is  said  that  in  the  mightiest  cyclones 
that  sweep  over  earth  or  sea  there  is  a  spot  at  the  center — at  the 
very  vortex — where  all  is  calm  and  still.  Thus  amid  the  cyclones 
of  human  passion — ir  the  whirl  and  vortex  of  opposition  and  ha- 
tred, human  or  satanic — there  is  one  place  of  undisturbed  seren- 
ity, and  that  is  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  There  Jesus 
dwelt,  and  nothing  could  disturb  him. 

But  now  only  a  few  hours  remained  in  which  to  finish  his  work. 
Whatever  he  would  say  to  his  disciples  he  must  say  quickly.  And 
so  the  word  goes  forth  to  the  Twelve  to  assemble  in  the  upper 
room  which  "the  goodman  of  the  house''  had  prepared  at  the 
Master's  bidding.  When  the  hour  was  come  he  sat  down  with  the 
Twelve.  From  this  point  onward  ever}-  act,  every  word,  deepens 
the  impression  of  all  his  former  teaching.  The  announcement  of 
his  own  betrayal,  the  departure  of  Judas,  the  prediction  of  Peter's 
defection,  the  institution  of  the  Holy  Supper,  the  washing  of  the 
disciples'  feet,  follow7  in  rapid  succession.  Then  words  of  deep- 
est wisdom  and  tenderness  are  spoken  as  he  tells  of  the  many 
mansions,  of  the  way  to  the  Father,  his  oneness  with  the  Father, 
the  coming  of  the  Comforter,  the  peace  he  would  leave  with  them, 
and  many  things  beside.  All  this  is  on  the  line  which  leads  frorn 
the  outward  and  the  visible  to  the  inward  and  the  spiritual,  and  as 
we  listen  w-e  feel  that  we  stand  on  holy  ground;  but  when  Jesus 
lifts  up  his  eyes  and  opens  his  lips  in  his  intercessory  prayer — the 
most  wonderful  prayer  ever  breathed  from  earth  to  heaven — then 
do  xve  stand  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  holy  place,  listening  to 
the  first  words  of  that  intercession  which  ever  goes  up  before  the 
mercy  seat  from  the  lips  of  our  great  High  Priest.  What  Jesus 
prayed  for  then  he  prays  for  now,  and  his  intercession  cannot  be 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST.  65 

in  vain.     To  suppose  that  it  has  continued  all  these  centuries  with-  -SUTHERLAND. 
out  answer  is  simply  unthinkable;  and  yet  there  are  those  who 
tell  us  they  are  waiting  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  Redeemer's  dying 
prayer,  and  they  blame  the  Churches  in  no  measured  terms  be- 
cause fulfillment  has  been  so  long  delayed. 

T.et  us  now  turn  to  the  prayer  itself  and  try  to  grasp  the  mean- 
ing of  its  wonderful  words.  Already  we  have  been  led  far  into 
the  spiritual  realm,  and  in  that  same  realm  we  must  find  our 
exegesis.  A  mere  surface  interpretation  will  not  meet  the  case; 

we  must  penetrate,  if  possible,  into  spirit  and  truth.    The  record 

.     .      , ,  .  t,     u  r  T   t,  i  .      .       The  prayer. 

is  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John,  verse  eleven,  and  again  in 

verses  twenty  to  twenty-three,  and  the  words  are  these :  "Holy 
Father,  keep  them  in  thy  name  which  thou  hast  given  me,  that 
they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are.  .  .  .  Neither  for  these  only 
do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  that  believe  on  me  through  their 
word ;  that  they  may  all  be  one  ;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me, 
and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us  :  that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve that  thou  didst  send  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast 
given  me  I  have  given  unto  them;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as 
we  are  one  ;  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfected 
into  one;  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  didst  send  me,  and 
lovedst  them,  even  as  thou  lovedst  me.'" 

A  common  interpretation  put  upon  these  words  is  to  refer  them 
to  the  organic  union  of  all  Christ's  disciples  in  one  visible  body, 
and  the  inference  is  drawn  that,  until  this  is  accomplished,  Christ's 
intercessory  prayer  will  remain  unanswered.  But  such  an  inter- 
pretation is  singularly  inadequate.  It  is  mere  play  upon  the  sur- 

.    .  .  Material 

race  of  the  words  instead  ot  getting  down  into  the  heart  ot  things.   nnion 

Even  a  superficial  study  of  the  word  and  works  of  God  should  inadequate. 
convince  us  that  the  great  purpose  of  redemption  is  to  lead  men 
from  the  outward  to  the  inward,  from  the  visible  to  the  invisible, 
from  the  letter  that  killeth  to  the  spirit  that  giveth  life.  The 
whole  movement  of  sacred  history  lies  along  this  line.  Creation 
began  with  the  lowest  forms  of  life  ;  it  culminated  in  the  creation 
cf  man  in  the  image  of  God.  Redemption  in  its  historical  aspect 
begins  with  the  Levitical  ritual,  with  its  sensuous  worship,  in 
which  the  spiritual  element  is  scarcely  visible  ;  it  ends  with  the  in- 
carnation of  the  Son  of  God,  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  setting  up  of  an  invisible  kingdom  in  the  souls  of  men.  The 
written  word  begins  with  picture  and  symbol  from  which  we  pass 


66  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

SUTHERLAND.  to  spjrjt  ancj  truth.  And  even  in  the  New  Testament  there  is  an 
ascending  scale  from  the  mighty  signs  and  wonders  recorded  in 
the  synoptical  Gospel  to  the  spirit  and  truth  of  the  Gospel  of  John. 

Keeping  in  mind  this  constant  and  uniform  movement  in 
Christ's  teaching  from  that  which  is  natural  to  that  which  is  spir- 
itual, remembering  that  we  are  now  witnessing  the  closing  hours 
of  his  earthly  life  and  listening  to  his  last  words  in  the  hearing  of 
his  disciples ;  remembering  that  he  has  assumed,  before  our  very 
eyes,  his  High-priestly  function  as  our  advocate  with  God,  and  is 
asking  from  the  Father  the  divinest  gift  He  has  to  bestow ;  is  it 
conceivable  that  at  such  a  time,  and  under  circumstances  so  inex- 
pressibly solemn,  the  Saviour's  supreme  desire  for  his  disciples, 
repeated  again  and  again,  should  have  concerned  itself  solely,  or 
even  chiefly,  with  the  mere  externals  of  religion,  and  that  the 
best  thing  he  could  ask  was  a  visible  organic  unity  as  the  proof  to 
the  world  that  he  had  been  sent  of  God?  To  interpret  the  words 
in  this  narrow  and  unspiritual  sense  would  be  a  sudden  reversal 
of  the  whole  trend  of  Christ's  teaching,  and  would  land  us  in  an 
anticlimax  of  the  most  startling  kind. 

That  which  Jesus  desired,  first  of  all,  and  above  all,  for  his  dis- 
ciples was  unity  of  spirit,  an  inward  fellowship  with  one  another 
and  with  God  like  unto  that  existing  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  This  is  indicated  by  the  very  language  of  the  prayer :  ''That 
they  may  be  one  even  as  we  are."  "That  they  all  may  be  one  ; 
even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  in  us."  And  yet  again,  "That  they  may  be  one  even  as  we  are 
one;  I  in  them  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfected  into 
one,  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  didst  send  me."  How 

far  and  under  what  conditions  this  mav  include  outward  and  visi- 
True  oneness.  '  . 

ble  unity  will  be  considered  farther  on  ;  in  the  meantime,  our  con- 
cern is  with  that  oneness  in  Christ  which  he  died  to  make  possible, 
arid  which  is  the  crowning  grace  and  giory  of  experimental  reli- 
gion. Knowing  all  that  was  comprehended  in  the  extension  and 
consummation  of  hi. -5  kingdom  in  the  earth,  Jesus  knew  the  su- 
preme importance  of  absolute  unity  among  his  people,  a  unity 
that  could  not  be  created  and  maintained  by  human  machinery, 
however  well  intended  and  devised,  by  majority  votes  of  Confer- 
ences and  Synods,  or  compromises  between  opposing  factions,  but 
only  by  the  mighty  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  in- 
dividual believers,  bringing;  them  into  vital  union  witli  Christ  and 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST.  67 

the  living  Head,  and  through  him  with  all  God's  redeemed  ones 
on  earth  and  in  heaven.  To  men  who  have  only  a  form  of  reli- 
gion, and  deny  the  power  thereof,  all  this  would  be  unintelligible  ; 
but  to  those  who  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  to  whom  re- 
ligion is  an  experience  and  not  a  mere  creed  or  form,  it  will  come 
with  the  force  of  a  divine  demonstration,  and  commend  itself  as 
of  the  very  essence  of  the  gospel. 

A  spiritual  unity,  such  as  we  are  considering,  comes  within  the 
scope  of  individual  experience.  Each  true  believer  not  only  may 
be  but  assuredlv  is  brought  into  vital  union  with  God  in  Christ  Je- 
sus, and  therefore  into  vital  union  with  every  other  true  believer 
throughout  the  whole  world.  It  is  this  union  of  true  believers 

that  constitutes  the  oneness  of  the  Church  universal,  and  all  claims 

.....  .    .  .  .    Son';  unity. 

to  that  distinction  based  upon  systems  of  doctrines  or  torms  ot 

government,  upon  modes  of  administration  or  historic  continuity, 
are  delusive  and  vain.  The  unity  which  Christ  desired  and  for 
which  he  prayed  was  to  be  the  standing  evidence  to  the  world 
that  he  had  been  sent  of  God,  and  how  he  understood  it  may  be 
inferred  from  his  words  a  little  before  :  "By  this  shall  all  men 
know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another." 
But  how  shall  the  world  see  and  know  that  we  have  love  one  to 
another?  Will  it  be  because  we  subscribe  to  the  same  creed, 
submit  to  the  same  Church  order,  pronounce  the  same  Shibbo- 
leth? History  answers  "Xo."  When  Christians  were  few  and 
poor,  and  persecuted,  with  no  bond  of  union  save  that  of  unswerv- 
ing loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  although  the  heathen  hated  them  and 
pursued  them  even  unto  death,  they  could  not  withold  the  admir- 
ing testimony,  "Behold  how  these  Christians  love  one  another!" 
and  the  proof  of  the  love  was  not  outward  organic  unity,  but  the 
willingness  of  each  to  serve  and  suffer  for  the  sake  of  a  fellow-be- 
liever. Such  a  love  the  world  has  never  known  bet-ire,  and  it  was 
mighty  to  convince  men  that  He  who  had  inspired  a  love  like  that 
must  have  been  sent  of  God  to  be  the  Sa\iour  of  the  world. 

If  the  organic  union  of  all  Christians  in  one  visible  Church  is  the 
all-important  matter,  if  this  is  the  crowning  grace  for  which  the 
Saviour  prayed,  we  are  at  once  brought  face  to  face  with  a  very 
grave  responsibility.  If  the  Redeemer's  intercessory  prayer  can- 
long  as  outward  divisions  remain  in  the 
doctrinal  opinion,  of  conscientious  scru- 
•f  established  Church  order,  justify  the 


68 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


SUTHERLAND. 


Organic  union, 
when? 


All  who  are 
Christ's. 


continuance  of  our  divisions  for  a  single  hour?  It  has  been  said, 
and  I  think  with  justice,  that  a  man  is  most  likely  to  be  right  in 
those  things  which  he  holds  in  common  with  the  Church  universal, 
and  most  likely  to  be  wrong  in  those  things  which  he  holds  as  pe- 
culiar opinions  of  his  own  ;  but  it  has  been  observed  that  not  a  few 
who  emphasize  as  the  great  desideratum  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom, who  profess  to  believe  that  only  in  one  visible  universal 
Church  can  the  Redeemer's  prayer  be  fulfilled,  are  strangely  tena- 
cious of  every  jot  and  tittle  of  the  systems  in  which  they  have  been 
trained,  and  seem  to  regard  the  wholesale  acceptance  of  those  sys- 
tems as  indispensable  to  the  union  they  so  much  desire.  But  this 
is  only  to  relegate  the  whole  question  to  a  very  distant  future. 
The  organic  union  of  diverse  and  even  conflicting  systems  neces- 
sarily involves  mutual  concessions  and  compromises,  and  until 
we  are  prepared  to  submit  to  these  all  talk  of  organic  union  is  like- 
ly to  prove  but  wasted  breath. 

Now  if  it  be  true  that  believers  who  are  in  vital  union  with 
Christ,  and  these  alone,  constitute  his  mystical  body,  the  ques- 
tion of  organic  union  assumes  a  new  phase;  for  true  believers  are 
scattered  among  Churches  of  every  name  the  wide  world  over, 
and  to  gather  these  alone  into  one  organized  body  is,  on  the  face 
of  it,  a  manifest  impossibility.  No  human  authority  could  decide 
who  are  and  who  are  not  in  vital  union  with  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
even  if  they  wrere  known,  who  would  have  authority  to  summon 
them  out  of  the  various  communions  where  Providence  has  cast 
their  lot,  to  form  a  new  communion  under  a  new  name?  More 
than  once  the  experiment  has  been  tried ;  but  instead  of  bringing 
about  the  organic  union  of  true  believers,  the  experiment  has  re- 
sulted only  in  creating  some  additional  sects,  and  these  the  most 
sectarian  of  all.  If.  therefore,  we  regard  organic  union  as  the 
chief  thing  to  be  desired,  we  must  be  content  to  take  the  Churches 
as  they  are— the  tares  and  the  wheat  together — and  then  see  if  we 
can  discover  a  centripetal  force  sufficiently  strong  to  bind  the 
heterogeneous  elements  in  one. 

lo  guard  against  misapprehension,  let  me  here  say,  once  for  all, 
that  none  of  these  things  are  said  to  discourage  the  desire  or  hope 
of  a  union  of  all  Christ's  followers  in  one  visible  body,  or  to  con- 
vey the  impression  that  1  do  not  sympathize  with  a  hope  so  high. 
I  do  sympathize  with  it  most  profoundly,  and  am  free  to  express 
the  belief  that  such  a  union  will  one  da/  be  an  accomplished  fact. 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST. 


69 


But  if  that  union  is  to  be  real  and  lasting,  it  must  come  in  God's   SUTHERLAND. 
order;  it  must  be  the  result  of  that  oneness  with  God  in  Christ  for 
which  the  Saviour  prayed ;  it  must  be  the  outgrowth  of  an  inte- 
rior life  organizing  its  own  living  body  for  the  performance  of  its 
own  proper  functions,  and  not  the  mechanical  construction  of  an 
automaton  to  be  galvanized  into  imitating  the  movements  of  a 
life  which  it  does  not  possess.     But  laying  aside  for  the  present 
all  diversities  of  interpretation  and  assuming  only  that  what  Jesus   prayer  and 
asked  for  was  some  real  and  lasting  good  for  his  Church — some-   effort« 
thing  which  should  be  to  us,  as  it  was  to  him,  an  object  of  supreme 
desire — is  there  anything  which  Christian  men  and  women  can  do 
to  further  the  end  in  view, and  so  realize  in  fuller,  grander  measure 
that  oneness  in  God  though  Christ  for  which  the  Saviour  prayed? 
There  are  at  least  two  objects  to  which  our  prayers  and  faith  and 
efforts  might  be  directed  with  promise  of  fruitful  results. 

The  first  of  these  is  a  mighty  deepening  of  spiritual  life  in  the 
Church.  If  there  is  a  lack  of  unity  among  us,  it  is  because  the  level 
of  spiritual  life  is  so  low.  Our  religion  is  too  superficial.  It  dwells 
too  much  in  the  region  of  opinion  and  dogma  and  too  little  in  the 
region  of  conviction  and  motive.  It  is  too  much  a  religion  of  the 
head  and  too  little  of  the  heart.  Its  consecration  is  that  of  the  in-  Deepening  of 
tellect  rather  than  of  the  will,  and  love  is  more  in  word  and  tongue  spiritual  life 
than  in  deed  and  truth.  Such  a  religion  may  find  an  outlet  in  tith- 
ing its  "mint  and  anise  and  cummin,"  but  not  so  much  in  "judg- 
ment, mercy,  and  the  love  of  God,"  and  it  is  not  the  sign  whereby 
the  world  shall  know  that  we  are  Christ's  disciples,  and  that  the 
Father  sent  him  into  the  world.  I  would  not  assume  a  pessimis- 
tic role,  and  complain  that  the  whole  Church  had  backslidden 
from  God.  That  would  be  a  sinful  exaggeration;  but  it  is  true, 
nevertheless,  that  the  tide  of  spirituality  has  ebbed  farther  than 
most  of  us  realize.  The  Church  has  splendid  organization,  elab- 
orate machinery,  but  "the  spirit  of  the  living  creature"  is  not  in 
the  wheels.  Family  religion  is  sorely  neglected  ;  private  devo- 
tion languishes  ;  the  Methodist  testimony  of  full  salvation  is  ig- 
nored, or  is  relegated  for  the  most  part  to  ignorant  extremists 
\vho  bring  it  into  disrepute  by  their  censorious  spirit  or  inconsis- 
tent lives.  Putting  the  case  for  the  Church  as  favorably  as  truth 
will  allow,  is  she  so  "rich  and  increased  in  goods"  as  to  "have 
need  of  nothing?"  Has  she  no  sins  to  repent  of:  no  unfaithful- 
ness to  deplore?  Is  the  level  of  her  spiritual  life  near  where  it 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


SUTHEKLAXD. 


Spirituality 
and  union. 


Spirituality 
and  missions. 


ought  to  be  ?  The  most  optimistic  Christian  will  not  affirm  that 
it  is.  A  great  deepening  of  spiritual  life  is  the  crying  need  of  the 
hour.  May  it  be  fulfilled  in  our  experience  "not  many  days 
hence !" 

A  deepening  of  spiritual  life,  and  that  alone,  will  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  Christian  unity.  In  proportion  as  the  spiritual  life  is  deep- 
ened we  get  nearer  to  God,  and  we  cannot  get  nearer  to  God  with- 
out getting  nearer  to  one  another.  If  this  were  kept  steadily  in 
mind,  it  would  save  much  random  talk  and  wasted  effort  for  the 
organic  union  of  Churches.  The  fact  is.  the  Churches  are  kept 
apart  not  so  much  by  differences  of  opinion  as  by  lack  of  the  mind 
that  was  in  Christ.  Christendom  cannot  be  organically  united  un- 
less it  is  first  united  in  spirit,  and  it  cannot  be  united  in  spirit 
unless  there  is  a  great  deepening  of  spiritual  life.  The  remedy  for 
existing  divisions  will  not  be  found  in  argument  or  in  compromis- 
es, but  in  that  mighty  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit  whereby  a  creed 
is  changed  into  an  experience  and  a  profession  is  transformed 
into  a  life.  This  is  the  true  bond  of  union,  and  without  it  an  ex- 
ternal unity  would  be  a  rope  of  sand. 

The  bearing  of  all  this  on  the  missionary  problem  is  manifest. 
Whenever  and  wherever  there  has  been  a  revival  of  true  mission- 
ary zeal  it  has  been  preceded  by  earnest  and  persistent  prayer  and 
a  deepening  of  spiritual  life.  Witness  the  sending  forth  of  the 
first  foreign  missionaries  by  the  Church  of  Antioch  :  "As  they 
[that  is,  the  prophets  and  teachers]  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and 
fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  lor 
the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.  And  when  they  had 
fasted  and  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  on  them,  and  sent  them 
away.  So  they,  being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  went  down 
to  Seleucia.''  The  history  of  the  Church  is  full  of  examples  just 
as  striking,  showing  that  the  deepening  of  spiritual  life  always  re- 
sults in  some  new  outgrowth  of  missionary  zeal.  All  along  the 
centuries  we  find  individuals  or  groups  of  men  deeply  concerned 
for  the  well-being  of  the  Church  and  the  salvation  of  the  world, 
and  while  they  were  hated  and  despised  by  the  formalists  and  the 
ungodly  of  their  age,  the  Holy  Spirit  used  them  to  save  the  Church 
from  the  paralysis  of  a  dying  orthodoxy  and  from  hopeless  moral 
decay.  Opprobrious  names  were  heaped  upon  them,  and  Piet- 
ism, Mysticism.  Puritanism,  Methodism.  Herrnhutism,  are  some 
of  the  term?  by  which  they  became  known  :  but  it  is  by  these  move- 
ments, so  despised  of  men. that  God  has  conserved  the  spirit  of  true 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST.  7 1 

religion  and  demonstrated  the  power  of  his  truth  from  age  to  age.  SUTHERLAND. 
Well  did  the  late  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon  express  the  thought :  "When- 
ever in  any  period  of  the  Church's  history  a  little  company  has 
sprung  up  so  surrendered  to  the  Spirit  and  so  filled  with  his  pres- 
ence as  to  furnish  the  pliant  instruments  of  his  will,  then  a  new 
Pentecost  has  dawned  on  Christendom,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
great  commission  has  been  republished." 

It  is  in  this  presence  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  choosing  and 
sending  forth  his  own  messengers,  that  we  find  the  true  apostolic 
succession,  and  by  the  life  which  he  imparts  he  maintains  the  unity 
and  continuity  of  his  Church  from  age  to  age.  From  Pietism — 
to  go  no  farther  back  in  the  Church's  history — came  Moravian- 
ism;  from  Moravianism,  Methodism;  from  Methodism,  the  great 

.      r    .          .  ,  m  i        The  true  apos- 

missionary  revival  of  the  nineteenth  century.      1  hat  is  to  say,  the   tcnc  £UCCes- 

deepening  of  spiritual  life  which  resulted  from  the  Methodist  re-  sicm- 
vival  found  its  outlet  in  missionary  zeal  and  effort  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world.  And  what  we  find  in  communities  we 
find  also  in  the  case  of  individuals — the  Holy  Spirit  transmitting 
himself,  so  to  speak,  from  man  to  man  and  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration. John  Newton,  of  Olney,  though  not  a  Methodist  in 
name,  received  the  new  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  which  he  was  the 
means  of  communicating  in  turn  to  Thomas  Scott,  whose  preach- 
ing stirred  and  quickened  William  Carey  ;  and  he,  through  reading 
the  journal  of  David  Brainerd,  wras  powerfully  moved  to  mission- 
ary consecration.  The  same  John  Newton  was  the  human  instru- 
ment in  the  conversion  of  Claudius  Buchanan,  the  successful  mis- 
sionary to  India.  Buchanan  published  a  tract,  "The  Star  of  In- 
dia," Avhich  fell  into  the  hands  of  Adoniram  Judson,  and  deter- 
mined his  career  as  a  missionary.  In  like  manner  Charles  Sim- 
eon carried  the  new  evangel  to  Cambridge,  and,  although  he  was 
hooted  and  jeered  at  as  Pietist  and  Methodist.  God  gave  him 
Henry  Martyn,  whose  brief  but  luminous  life  has  kindled  the  mis- 
sionary fire  in  scores  of  hearts  from  that  day  to  this.  A  most 
significant  thing  in  connection  with  all  these  men  and  others  like 
them  is  the  fact  that  the  Holy  Spirit's  working  not  only  led  them 
to  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  but  so 
lifted  them  above  the  region  oi"  sectarian  strife  and  prejudice  that 
they  were  able  to  recognize  as  brethren  beloved  in  the  Lord  all  of 
every  name  who  were  in  vital  union  with  Jesus  Christ.  From  all 
of  which  the  lesson  is  plain  :  Let  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church 


72 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


SUTHERLAND. 


cooperation. 


Has  chriflt 
seen  lifted  up? 


be  so  deepened  that  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  rule  and  guide  in  all  her 
plans  and  councils,  and  soon  God's  purpose  will  be  accomplished 
— the  gospel  will  be  preached  to  the  whole  creation,  and  believ- 
ers the  wide  world  over  will  be  one  even  as  Christ  and  the  Father 
are  one. 

Assuming  now  that  the  Saviour's  prayer  may  have  included  the 
thought  of  organic  union,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  unity  of  believ- 
ers, a  second  point  that  should  be  kept  steadily  in  view  is  cooper- 
ation among  the  Churches  for  a  common  object,  and  no  better  ob- 
ject could  be  chosen  than  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation.  Competition  in  missionary  work  among  the  heathen 
results  in  many  serious  disadvantages.  It  is  conceivable  that  a 
number  of  distinct  organizations,  working  side  by  side,  might 
sometimes  stimulate  zeal  and  ''provoke  unto  love  and  good 
works,"  but  it  is  undeniable  that  it  sometimes  provokes  to  some- 
thing that  is  not  love  and  to  works  that  are  not  good.  It  fosters 
rivalry,  wastes  resources,  reduces  efficiency,  retards  universal 
evangelization,  perplexes  native  converts,  perpetuates  needless  di- 
visions, emphasizes  nonessentials,  and  hinders  the  complete  re- 
alization of  that  oneness  for  which  the  Saviour  prayed.  Coop- 
eration in  the  one  aim  of  evangelizing  the  nations  wrould  go  far  to 
correct  all  this,  and  cooperation  might  be  possible  even  where  or- 
ganic union  is  impracticable.  It  would  turn  away  attention  from 
minor  things  in  which  the  Churches  differ,  and  would  fix  it  upon 
the  great  essentials  in  which  they  agree ;  and  this,  in  turn,  might 
teach  the  needed  lesson  that  Christianity  is  broader  than  sects 
and  more  catholic  than  creeds. 

This  steady  pursuit  of  a  common  object,  the  evangelization  of 
the  world,  would  have  its  effect  upon  the  preaching  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. Remembering  the  words  of  the  Master,  ''And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  myself,"  we  some- 
times wonder  why  all  men  have  not  been  drawn  to  him  long  ago. 
May  not  one  reason  be  found  in  this,  that  Christ  has  not  always 
been  lifted  up?  Some  have  lifted  up  the  Church  instead  of  the 
Church's  Lord ;  some  have  lifted  up  the  Creed  instead  of  Him  in 
whom  all  creeds  should  center,  and  some  have  lifted  up  the  cruci- 
fix instead  of  the  crucified  One  ;  and  thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that, 
instead  of  being  drawn  to  the  living  Christ,  men  have  been 
drawn  rather  to  the  controversies  that  have  raged  round  about 
him.  But  neither  Church,  nor  creed,  nor  ritual  can  satisfy  the 
world's  need  ;  only  an  uplifted  Christ  can  do  that.  If  this  be  so,  is 


ONENESS    IN    CHRIST.  73 


SUTHERLAND. 


it  not  our  manifest  duty  always  and  everywhere  to  lift  up  Christ 
as  the.  world's  only  hope?  Let  us  lift  him  up  in  the  great  congre- 
gation where  the  people  gather,  and  at  his  table  where  still,  as  of 
old,  he  is  often  revealed  in  the  breaking  of  the  bread.  Let  us 
lift  him  up  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  until  the  mighty  meaning 
of  Christ  crucified  shall  break  in  upon  their  darkness,  and  they  cry  unity. 
in  rapture :  "Lo,  this  is  our  God,  we  have  waited  for  him,  and  he 
will  save  us ;  this  is  the  Lord,  we  have  waited  for  him,  we  will  be 
glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salvation."  Let  us  lift  him  up  among  the 
vile  and  the  outcast  until  a  new  hope  begins  to  dawn  in  their 
hearts,  and  they  cry  in  grateful  wonder,  as  once  others  cried  in 
scorn :  "This  man  receiveth  sinners  and  eateth  with  them."  Yea, 
let  us  lift  him  up  at  the  bedsides  of  the  dying,  that  the  sinner's  last 
look  may  be  in  the  face  of  the  crucified  One  before  he  goes  to  see 
"the  King  in  his  beauty."  With  this  as  our  sole  business,  to  cry, 
"Behold  the  Lamb!"  may  we  not  hope  that  Christians  will  soon 
forget  the  things  in  which  they  have  differed,  and,  being  drawn 
themselves  into  closer  fellowship  with  Christ  by  the  very  gospel 
they  proclaim,  become  one  in  him  even  as  he  and  the  Father  are 


one 


To  some  people  such  a  day  may  seem  far  off,  but  it  may  be  near- 
er than  we  think.  Is  it  only  some  ancient  allegory  or  tradition, 
or  is  it  a  vision  of  the  Christian  centuries  that  has  been  shaped 
into  words  like  these  :  There  was  a  time  when  the  majestic  form  of 
truth  embodied  walked  this  earth,  but  somehow  became  dismem- 
bered, and  from  that  time  until  now  the  sundered  parts  are  mov- 
ing to  and  fro  in  ceaseless,  weary  search  each  for  the  other,  be-  Oae  body' 
cause  each  is  instinct  with  the  memory  of  the  old  and  loving  union, 
and  it  is  the  memory  that  impels  the  search,  and  the  search  itself 
is  a  prophecy  that  all  the  sundered  fragments  shall  be  reunited  in 
one  radiant  form  at  last.  Thus  it  may  be  one  day  with  the  mys- 
tical body  of  Christ,  which  is  his  Church.  Men  think  it  is  divided, 
and  that  the  sundered  fragments  have  been  driven  far  apart,  be- 
cause they  cannot  see  the  invisible  bond  which  unites  each  true 
believer  to  the  living  Head.  We  must  wait  a  little  longer  for  "the 
manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God,"  but  when  that  manifestation 
comes  it  will  be  seen  that  the  children  of  God  are  one  even  as 
Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  and  then  all  men  will  see  and  know 
that  the  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 


74  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

OBEDIENCE  TO  THE  GREAT  COMMISSION;  CHRIST'S 
LAW  OF  LIFE  TO  HIS  CHURCH. 

BISHOP   J.  C.  GRANLiERY,  D.D. 

LET  me  read  the  great  commission  as  recorded  by  Matthew. 
It  is  historical,  as  the  English  Magna  Charta  is  historical,  as  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  historical.  The  historical 
setting  is  impressive  :  the  place,  a  mountain  of  Galilee;  the  time. 

The  commis-  immediately  preceding  Christ's  departure  from  the  earth  ;  the  men 
to  whom  it  was  spoken,  the  eleven  faithful  disciples.  But  the 
great  charter  of  England  and  the  Constitution  of  the  American 
Union,  are  present,  living  facts  and  forces ;  so,  and  far  more,  the 
great  commission  is  true,  valid,  binding  to-day  and  all  days  unto 
the  end  of  time,  the  supreme  law  of  the  Church  and  charter  of 
her  rights.  Servants,  friends  of  our  ascended  Lord,  hear  what  he 
says  to  you  at  this  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  of  his  king- 
dom :  ''All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations, 
baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  commanded  you  :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world." 

I.  Note  the  rock  on  which  the  commission  rests  :  "All  authori- 
ty [the  Authorized  Version  reads  'power']  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  on  earth."  Authority  and  power  go  together  as 
source  and  stream.  Christ  has  authority  over  the  hosts  (excheq- 
uer) and  all  resources  of  heaven  and  earth;  authority  to  legislate, 
judge,  execute,  to  quicken  whom  he  will.  Authority  in  heaven. 
Angels  wait  or  haste  to  do  his  bidding.  He  might  have  summoned 

its  foundation,  twelve  legions  for  his  own  rescue,  but  would  not.  He  did  send  an 
angel  to  deliver  Peter  out  of  Herod's  hand.  "Are  they  not  all 
ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be 
heirs  of  salvation?"  But  the  greatest  proof  of  his  authority  in 
heaven  was  foreshown  in  this  promise:  "But  when  the  Comfort- 
er is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify 
of  me  :  and  ye  also  shall  bear  witness."  The  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  disciples  are  co-witnesses  of  Jesus.  "But  ye  shall  receive 
power,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you:  and  ye  shall  be 
my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem,  rind  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria. 


OBEDIENCE    TO    THE    GREAT    COMMISSION. 


75 


Aut^ority  on 

c  srt  Ju  • 


and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."     The  Spirit  still  wit-   GKAN1:KKY- 
nesses,  believers  still  witness  ;  may  not  America,  this  new  world, 
be  included  in  this  phrase  as  used  by  Jesus,  "the  uttermost  part 
of  the  earth  ?" 

He  has  authority  in  earth.  Why  do  the  nations  rage,  the  peo- 
ple imagine  a  vain  thing,  the  kings  of  earth  set  themselves,  and 
the  rulers  take  counsel  together  against  Jehovah  and  against  his 
anointed?  John  in  Revelation  styles  Jesus  the  Prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  Jesus  called  Satan  the  prince  of  this  world: 
usurper  he  is  and  tyrant.  But  when  the  seventy  disciples  whom  our 
Lord  had  sent  forth  to  preach  and  to  heal  returned  and  reported, 
he  said  :  "I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  At  that 
same  hour  he  rejoiced  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  thanked  God. 
Each  success  of  his  evangelists  is  a  new  occasion  of  joy  to  the 
Master. 

Absolute,  universal,  ever-during  sovereignty  is  the  claim  en" 
Christ.  On  his  head  are  many  crowns,  and  on  his  garments  is 
written  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  Xow  that  he  is  the 
King,  he  does  not  drop  the  favorite  title  of  his  humiliation,  the 
Son  of  man.  "The  Father  hath  given  him  authority  to  execute 
judgment  also,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man."  "When  the  Son 
of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels  with  him,  then 
shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory."  The  tie  of  a  common 
humanity  between  himself  and  his  disciples  shall  never  be  broken. 
The  name  of  Jesus,  given  before  his  birth,  setting  forth  his  work 
of  saving  his  people  from  their  sins,  most  precious  name,  shall 
not  be  substituted  by  any  other  title.  At  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  him  Lord,  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father.  The  hero  whom  the  people  freely  and 
fondly  followed  as  their  Leader,  and  hailed  in  the  hour  of  victory 
as  their  Liberator,  may  keep  them  at  a  distance  when  he  wears 
the  purple  and  diadem.  One  who  was  a  close  friend  of  the  per- 
secuted prince  may  be  rebuffed  as  presumptuous,  if  he  speak  fa- 
miliarly to  the  king.  But  far  different  is  the  case  between  be- 
lievers and  their  Lord.  Adoration  rise.-  higher,  praise  more  ecs- 
tatic. the  glory  shines  out  full-orbed  r.ncl  cloudless  :  but  what  his 
coronation  and  the  unrolling  progress  of  his  reign  show  forth  i? 
the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace,  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his 
inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  the  greatness  of  his  power  to  us-ward 
who  believe.  The  Church  of  Rome  delights  to  niagnifv  the  love 


Christ  our 


76  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

an(]  honor  which  the  enthroned  Son  shows  to  Mary,  and  her 
consequent  power.  Surely  she  is  very  dear  to  his  heart ;  what  will 
he  deny  her?  Let  us  accept  the  argument,  and  recall  what  hap- 
pened in  the  days  of  his  flesh.  "One  said,  Behold  thy  mother  and 
thy  brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to  speak  with  thee."  But  he 
answered:  "Who  is  my  mother?  and  who  are  my  brethren?"  And 
he  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  his  disciples — I  seem  to  see 
his  hand  outstretched  now  and  here  to  some,  at  least,  of  you  who 
listen — and  said  :  "Behold  my  mother  and  brethren!  For  whoso- 
ever shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the  same 
is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." 

What  owe  we  to  this  King  and  Saviour,  to  him  who  not 
only  died  for  our  redemption,  but  reigns  to  exalt  and  bless  us 
evermore?  Worshiping,  trustful,  joyous,  loving  loyalty. 

"Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

In  a  double  sense  this  loyalty  is  personal :  First,  it  is  the  spirit 
of  Christians  singly,  as  well  as  of  the  collective  Church  ;  secondly, 
its  object  is  a  person,  Christ  Jesus.  Americans  profess  loyalty,  no'i 
to  the  President,  nor  to  any  leader,  but  to  the  country,  to  a  cause. 
The  British  were  loyal  to  Victoria,  who  reigned  so  long  and  so 
wisely  and  with  such  affection  to  her  people ;  yet  their  deeper 
loyalty  was  to  the  liberty,  institution,  power,  and  glory  of  the  na- 
tion, represented  in  part  by  the  throne.  "England  expects  every 
man  to  do  his  duty  to-day,"  was  Nelson's  appeal  to  the  sailors; 
oar  duty  to  England,  not  the  king.  Christ's  authority  is  not  arbitrarv.  con- 
ventional, nor  limited.  All  perfections,  unblemished  and  bound- 
less, unite  in  him.  He  is  before  and  above  all  things  ;  by  him  and 
for  him  they  were  created  and  do  consist ;  he  is  the  Sun  of  al! 
light,  the  Fount  of  all  life.  Not  by  a  mere  volition,  not  by  the 
mere  outflow  of  his  wisdom  and  might,  but  by  humbling  and 
emptying  himself,  by  the  incarnation  in  which  he  became  one  of 
us,  by  his  revelation  of  the  truth,  by  setting  a  perfect  example  of 
righteousness  under  hard  human  conditions,  by  the  suffering  of 
death  to  put  a\vay  our  sin,  he  redeemed  us  from  bondage  and  sin. 
He  rose  from  the  grave,  ascended  on  high,  sits  on  the  right-hand 
of  the  Father,  continually  interceding  for  us,  is  the  Mediator 
through  whom  we  have  access  to  God,  and  is  ever  present  with 
his  Church.  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive 


OBEDIENCE    TO    THE    GREAT    COMMISSION.  77 


GRANBKRY. 


power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honor,  and 
glory,  and  blessing-."     Such  is  the  King. 

Now  consider  his  kingdom.  His  scepter  is  righteousness  and 
mercy.  His  reign  means  truth,  freedom,  purity,  peace,  joy,  and 
love.  In  him  is  the  promise  of  all  good,  on  earth  and  in  heaven, 
in  fleeting  time  and  changeless  eternity.  Glorious  is  his  cause ; 
but  it  is  not  an  abstraction  of  the  reason,  not  an  ideal  of  the  imagi- 
nation, much  less  a  figure  of  speech;  it  is  summed  up  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  is  the  Fullness  and  Source  of  all  excellence.  Devotion 
to  our  king,  devotion  to  the  world-wide  extension  of  his  kingdom, 
does  not  exclude,  but  secures  to  each  man  personal  reward  ex- 
ceeding abundantly  above  all  he  can  ask  or  think.  How  easy, 
free,  and  blissful  is  unquestioning,  unlimited  loyalty  to  this  king! 

II.  Clothed  with  all  authority,  Jesus  issues  his  commission. 
"Go  ye  therefore."     Judaism  stood  on  the  defensive  against  all    "Go  ye  there- 
nations.     Now  begins  an  active,  aggressive,  world-conquering 
war.     Mobilize  the  forces;  break  up  the  winter  quarters;  take  up 
the  line  of  march. 

Is  this  the  voice  of  command?  Yes,  like  the  command  at  the 
brink  of  the  sea,  "Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go 
forward  ;"  like  the  command  at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb,  "Lazarus, 
come  forth,"  ''Loose  him  and  let  him  go."  It  is  the  trumpet  of 
earth's  jubilee,  clear,  musical,  stirring,  waxing  louder  and  louder. 
Well  may  the  eleven  spring  forward  with  holy  eagerness  and  joy 
to  execute  this  commission.  What  was  their  equipment?  Faith, 
consecration,  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  \Vill  this  suffice  for 
so  momentous  a  commission?  Yes,  if  Christ  has  all  authority  in 
heaven  and  in  earth. 

Study  the  terms  of  the  commission.    How  broad,  "all  nations  ;" 

how  long,  "alwav ;"  ho\v  deep,  "Disciple,  baptize,  teach  them  to 

..,     Terms  of  the 

observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  Christi-  commission, 
anity  is  the  universal  religion,  the  religion  for  man,  for  the  whole 
earth  ;  the  ultimate  religion,  not  to  be  displaced  by  something 
better,  but  the  true  religion  to  last  until  the  end  of  the  world  era; 
the  complete,  perfect  religion,  to  be  kept  in  its  simplicity  and  in- 
tegrity, subduing  and  sanctifying  all  thought,  feeling,  purpose, 
institutions,  and  customs,  until  the  law  of  Christ  shall  rule  and 
unify  the  race. 

The  commission  determines  the  purpose,  work,  and  worth  of 
the  Church.  It  is  essentially  missionary.  Christ,  our  Head,  was 


78 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GRANBKRY. 


What  the 

commission 

means. 


Teach  the 
teachers. 


The  promise. 


sent  of  the  Father  to  save  sinners.  His  disciples  are  sent  on  the 
same  business.  "As  thou  didst  send  me  into  the  world,  even  so 
sent  I  them  into  the  world."  Therefore  go.  You  cannot  sit  still 
and  wait  for  men  to  seek  you.  You  cannot  hold  the  truth  and 
grace  of  God  as  a  private  treasure,  proudly  and  selfishly  thanking 
God  that  you  are  not  as  other  men.  The  manna  from  heaven  will 
corrupt  and  breed  worms  if  you  do  not  feed  it  to  the  starving 
multitudes.  In  all  humility,  yet  in  the  confidence  that  the  grace 
which  saves  you  is  God's  richest  gift  to  the  race,  and  with  the  in- 
tensest  yearning  that  every  man  shall  share  the  blessing,  you 
should  say  as  Paul  to  Agrippa,  ''Would  that  thou  wert  altogether 
such  a  one  as  I  am,"  in  this  faith  and  experience!  Go.  seek  the 
lost  sheep,  and  lead  them  to  the  one  pasture  and  Shepherd. 

Disciple,  bring  them  to  the  school  of  the  great  Teacher,  that 
they  may  learn  of  him.  and  find  rest.  You  are  the  light  of  the 
world;  hide  it  not  under  a  bushel.  Preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.  Translate  into  all  tongues,  publish,  and  circulate  the 
Word  of  God.  Get  hold  of  the  young  life  everywhere,  that  the 
truth  may  enlighten  and  sanctify  mind  and  heart  in  all  the  stages 
and  processes  of  development.  In  the  family,  day  school,  Sun- 
day school,  Epworth  League,  and  congregation,  teach  them  the 
saving  knowledge  of  Christ. 

Baptize.  They  belong  to  Christ.  Register  them  as  citizens  of 
his  kingdom.  Muster  them  into  service  as  his  soldiers.  Let  them 
swear  allegiance  and  fidelity.  Baptize  them  with  water  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  in  sign  that  the  Spirit 
baptizes  them  into  the  reality  of  union  and  communion  with  God. 

Teach  them  to  observe  all  that  I  have  commanded  you.  Pu- 
pilage is  a  means  of  experience  and  practice.  They  shall  become 
adults  and  adepts,  chosen  examples,  teachers.  Creed  and  name 
do  not  suffice  ;  religion  is  life  and  power.  Renewed  in  mind  by 
the  Spirit,  they  must  be  transformed  into  the  realization  and  mani- 
festation of  the  perfect  will  of  God.  This  is  more  than  evangeliza- 
tion ;  it  is  Christianization.  Christian  thoughts,  morals,  institu- 
'.;jns,  above  all  and  in  all,  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  must  supplant  hea- 
thenism and  false  systems.  There  must  be  native  Churches  and 
ministers,  self-support,  and  missions  to  spread  still  further  the 
glorious  gospel.  This,  this  only,  will  fulfill  the  commission. 

III.  The  commission,  prefaced  by  the  claim  or  all  authority, 
closes  with  a  word  of  cheer :  "Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  worM.''  Straisrhtwav  he  rose;  the  cliscivies  crazed 


OBEDIENCE   TO    THE    GREAT    COMMISSION.  79 


GRANBERY. 


upward  until  he  vanished  out  of  sight ;  then,  not  in  a  horror  of 
darkness  as  when  he  died  on  the  cross,  but  with  great  joy  in 
their  hearts,  they  returned  to  Jerusalem,  blessing  God.  Hallelu- 
jah is  the  music  to  which  we  march. 

You  may  say  :  "If  Jesus  were  present,  so  that  we  could  look  on 
his  face,  catch  from  his  lips  the  inspiration  of  command  and  prom- 
ise, if  he  sat  with  us  in  council,  and  moved  at  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn, we  should  feel  calm  and  confident." 

Do  you  forget  how  dull  of  understanding,  weak  of  purpose, 
wanting  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  the  disciples  were 
before  his  ascension ;  how  clear  of  vision,  firm  of  will,  strong  in 
courage,  elate  with  hope  they  became  when  he  was  absent  from 
sense,  but  present  to  faith  and  in  the  gift  of  the  Spirit?  He  is  not 
so  far  away  that  we  cannot  tell  him  our  thoughts  and  troubles, 
that  he  does  not  see,  hear,  guard,  comfort,  strengthen  us,  and 
give  us  the  victory.  His  name  is  Immanuel,  God  with  us. 

Advance  a  step  farther  in  the  apprehension  of  our  Lord's  au- 
thority and  power.  We  extol  him  as  the  king  of  glory,  strong, 
wise,  all-sufficient ;  then  our  spirits  mount.  We  contrast  the 
Church,  weak,  ignorant,  poor,  with  a  difficult  mission  and  in  the 
midst  of  foes;  then  our  spirits  fall.  But  let  us  not  lose  sight  of 
the  unity  between  Christ  and  his  Church,  and  of  the  purpose  for 
which  he  is  crowned  with  honor  and  power.  "The  glory  which 
thou  gavest  me,  I  have  given  them."  "For  their  sakes  I  sanctify 
myself,  that  they  themselves  also  may  be  sanctified  in  truth."  "I 
in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfected  into  one." 
"God  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the  ciirist  and 
Head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fullness  the  church- 
of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  Do  not  say  that  the  king  is  rich,  but 
the  kingdom  is  poor;  that  the  king  is  might}',  but  the  kingdom  is 
feeble.  "For  all  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos.  or 
Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  thing?  present,  or  things 
to  come;  all  are  yours  :  and  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ's  is  God's." 

There  came  a  day  after  Pentecost,  when  a  Conference  was  held 
in  Jerusalem,  and  Peter  told  bow  lie  had  been  sent  to  uncircum- 
cised  Cornelius  and  his  house  and  friends,  and  as  he  preached  the 
gospel  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  them  "even  as  on  us  at  the  begin- 
ning." And  when  tlrey  heard  these  things  they  held  their 
peace,"  from  disputing  whether  the  barrier  between  Jews  and 
Gentiles  should  be  swept  away,  and  the  kingdom  opened  to  the 


8o  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GRANBKRY. 


heathen  flood ;  "and  they  glorified  God  saying,  Then  to  the  Gen- 
tiles also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto  life."  Who  dares 
find  fault  with  the  breadth  of  this  divine  grant?  Who  does  not 
respond,  Glory  to  God  for  his  abounding  grace?  It  was  that 
revelation  which  warranted — yea,  commanded — the  offer  of  salva- 
tion to  you  and  me.  Not  Palestine,  but  the  world ;  not  the  seed 
of  Abraham,  but  the  seed  of  Adam  ;  not  those  on  whom  is  the  seal 
of  circumcision,  but  all  on  whom  is  the  curse  of  sin — these  Christ 
claims  as  his  own.  As  when  Noah  and  his  family  stepped  out  of 
the  ark  on  the  firm  ground,  breathed  the  free  air,  and  looked  forth 
on  the  landscape  whose  only  limit  was  the  bending  heaven,  so 
stepped  the  Church  into  liberty  with  a  larger  view,  a  stronger 
faith,  an  intenser  enthusiasm,  a  sublimer  purpose. 

Brothers,  this  is  our  law  and  charter.  By  it  we  live  or  die,  we 
onr  charter  fail  or  conquer.  If  we  do  not  carry  the  good  news,  so  far  as  in 
us  lies,  to  all  countries,  to  all  men,  we  lack  the  spirit  of  the  Mas- 
ter; disobey  his  command ;  frustrate  the  purpose  of  our  high  call- 
ing; lose  the  inspiration  of  the  grandest  and  most  beneficent 
cause  which  ever  appealed  to  conscience  and  heart ;  stifle  spiritual 
life  by  selfishness;  and  stagnate  through  lack  of  the  breadth  and 
movement  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  great  deep  of  the  soul. 

The  life  of  the  Church  depends  on  carrying  out  the  great  com- 
mission in  faith  and  love.  So  will  she  please  her  Lord.  She  will 
cultivate  magnanimity.  The  purest  and  most  generous  zeal  will 
fire  her  heart.  She  will  know  the  richest  joy  possible  to  man,  the 
joy  of  loving  service  to  Christ  and  to  mankind  for  his  sake.  In 
the  order  of  noble  longings  and  in  the  abundance  of  glad  activi- 
ties, she  will  through  the  ages  wax  wiser,  mightier,  happier,  more 
Christlike.  She  will  be  the  blessed  mother  of  manv  children. 


PRAYER   AND   MISSIONS. 

JOHN    R.    MOTT. 

PRAYER  and  missions  are  as  inseparable  as  faith  and  works ; 
in  fact,  prayer  and  missions  are  faith  and  works.  Jesus  Christ, 
by  precept,  by  command,  by  example,  has  taught  us  that  the  deep- 
est need  in  the  great  missionary  enterprise  is  the  need  of  prayer. 


PRAYER    AND    MISSIONS.  8l 

Before  "'give''  and  before  "go"  comes  "pray."  This  is  the  divine  MOTT- 
order.  Anything  that  reverses  it  or  alters  it  inevitably  leads  to 
•loss  or  disaster.  This  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  unexampled 
achievements  of  the  early  Christians,  which  were  made  possible 
by  the  constant  use  of  the  hidden  and  omnipotent  force  of  prayer. 
They  ushered  in  Pentecost  by  prayer.  When  they  wanted  work- 
ers they  prayed.  When  the  time  came  to  send  forth  workers, 
the  Church  was  called  together  to  pray.  Their  great  foreign 
missionary  movement  was  inaugurated  in  prayer.  One  of  the 
two  great  objects  in  establishing  the  'order  of  deacons  was  that 
the  apostles  —  that  is,  the  leaders  of  the  Church  —  might  give 
themselves  unto  prayer.  When  persecutions  took  place  the 
Christians  met  to  pray.  Every  undertaking  was  begun,  contin- 
ued, and  ended  in  prayer.  In  this  we  find  the  deep  secret  of 
those  marvelous  achievements  that  still  move  the  Church. 

The  missions  which  have  had  the  largest  and  most  enduring  Prayer  and 
results  have  been  those  in  which  prayer  has  had  a  prominent 
place.  Show  me  the  missionaries,  the  missions,  and  the  nations 
for  which  the  most  real  prayer  has  been  offered,  and  I  will  show 
you  the  most  striking  missionary  triumphs  of  the  Church.  It  is 
true  beyond  question.  This  explains  why  some  missions  progress 
more  than  others,  though  they  may  be  less  favorably  situated, 
and  may  be  confronted  with  much  greater  difficulties. 

Moreover,  prayer  is  the  principal  means  in  promoting  any  spir- 
itual undertaking.  Our  hope  and  confidence  in  this  missionary 
movement  must  not  be  placed  in  the  extent  and  perfection  of  our 
missionary  organization;  not  in  the  number  and  strength  of  the 
missionary  force  ;  not  in  the  fullness  of  the  treasury  and  in  well-  our  hope  an* 
appointed  material  equipment  ;  not  in  the  achievements  of  the  confidence. 
past,  even  in  spiritual  things  ;  not  in  any  experience  acquired 
in  a  long  century  of  missions,  nor  in  the  agencies  and  methods 
which  have  been  devised  ;  not  in  the  brilliancy  and  popularity  of 
the  leadership  of  the  work  at  home  and  abroad  ;  nor  yet  in  states- 
manlike and  far-sighted  policies  :  nor  in  enthusiastic  forward 
movements  and  inspiring  watchwords  ;  "not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit."  In  the  last  analysis,  the  source  of 
power  in  things  spiritual  is  God,  and  the  energies  of  God  arc 
released  in  answer  to  prayer. 

Everything   vital   to  the    missionary   enterprise   hinges    upon 


prayer.     The  doors  of  China  swung  open  to  the  keys  of  prayer,   f™-™ 
One  of  the  most  interesting  hidden  chapters  of  Japanese  mis- 
6 


82  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE- 

MOTT*  sions  relates  to  the  opening  of  the  country  to  the  preachers  of 

the  gospel  in  response  to  prayer.  The  most  difficult  portions  of 
India  yielded  themselves  to  this  pressure.  Some  of  the  most  un- 
likely parts  of  the  Dark  Continent  have  been  opened  by  prayer. 
The  Turkish  Empire  has  been  laid  bare  as  a  result  of  prayer. 
The  zenanas  of  India,  which  it  was  predicted  could  not  be 
opened,  had  their  doors  also  swung  ajar  in  answer  to  prayer. 
Moreover,  to  batter  down  the  walls  of  opposition,  persecution, 
and  peril,  prayer  is  as  essential  as  it  is  sufficient.  To  my  mind 
there  has  been  no  more  heartening  circumstance,  in  these  days 
when  the  rationalists  of  Germany  and  of  other  countries  are  ques- 
tioning the  achieving  power  of  prayer,  and  maintaining  that  it  is 
nothing  more  than  reflex  influence,  than  that  splendid  combina- 
tion of  providential  facts  in  connection  with  the  raising  of  the 
siege  of  Peking.  It  was  an  impressive  demonstration  before  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  world  of  the  reality  and  power  of  intercessory 
prayer. 

Do  we  need  hundreds  of  missionaries  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  native  workers  ?  We  certainly  do.  Prayer  is  the  method,  then, 
to  obtain  them.  Christ  has  laid  this  down  as  the  one  and  essen- 
tial condition,  that  we  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  thrust 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest.  It  never  fails  to  move  me  to 
wonder  that  Almighty  God  has  ordained  that  the  supplying  of 
laborers  is  conditioned  upon  the  faithfulness  in  prayer  of  his  own 

"Before  they    people.    When  the  Church  Missionary  Society  came  to  recognize 
call,"  ^ 

their  need  of  workers,  they  adopted,  in  the  year  1872,  a  day  of 

intercession.  During  the  five  years  preceding  that  year  they  sent 
out  fifty-one  new  missionaries  ;  during  the  five  years  after  they 
began  to  observe  their  clay  of  intercession  they  sent  out  One  hun- 
dred and  twelve  missionaries.  In  1884  they  reached  a  point 
where  they  wanted  a  large  number  of  workers,  and  could  see 
none  of  them.  They  set  apart  a  special  day  for  intercession.  The 
day  before  this  was  to  be  observed  Secretary  Wigram  went  to 
Cambridge  University  in  response  to  the  call  of  the  students.  A 
deep  spiritual  movement  had  been  going  on  among  them.  In 
answer  to  prayer  one  hundred  university  men  offered  themselves 
for  foreign  service.  He  returned  to  the  mission  rooms  on  the 
day  appointed  for  special  intercessions  to  remind  the  committee- 
men  gathered  round  the  table  that  "Before  they  call,  I  will  an- 


Dr.  Schofielcl.  after  winning  prizes  in  the  British  colleges  to 


PRAYER   AND    MISSIONS.  83 

the  amount  of  $7,500,  and  proving  himself  one  of  the  most  bril-  MOTT- 
liant  men  that  ever  passed  through  those  institutions,  went  as  a 

medical  missionary  to  China  in  1881.     He  died  in  1884.     The  _ 

Three  years 

great  burden  on  his  heart,  during  the  three  years  of  his  foreign  of  prayer, 
service,  had  been  that  more  university  men  might  go  as  mis- 
sionaries to  China.  He  made  it  a  matter  of  prayer  day  by  day ; 
and  his  wife  since  his  death  has  said  that  time  and  time  again 
she  had  overheard  him  praying  in  his  study  that  God  might  thrust 
forth  university  men.  The  year  after  his  death  the  Cambridge 
seven  went  out.  One  is  now  the  bishop  of  West  China,  another 
is  the  assistant  general  director  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  a 
third  was  a  pioneer  missionary  to  Tibet,  and  all  the  others  have 
been  useful  workers.  The  example  of  this  band  (I  speak  from 
personal  knowledge,  having  spent  years  visiting  the  universities 
of  the  different  countries)  has  influenced  many  of  the  strongest 
students  in  the  different  Protestant  lands  to  give  themselves  to 
mission  work. 

In   1886  there  were  two  hundred  missionaries  in  connection 
with  the  China  Inland  Mission.     A  number  of  them  came  to- 
gether and  spent  eight  days  in  prayer.     They  decided  that  they 
would  call  upon  God  to  send  out  one  hundred  more  missionaries  Prayer  aud 
within  a  year.     Before  they  separated  they  held  a  praise  meeting  worker8- 
to  thank  God  for  answering  their  prayer,  because,  as  one  of  their 
number  said :  "We  shall  not  be  able,  all  of  us.  to  assemble  a  year 
hence."     Within  the  year  some  six  hundred  candidates  applied ; 
and  of  their  number,  one  hundred  were  selected  and  sent  out. 

Yes,  this  is  the  deep  secret  of  getting  laborers.  I  was  speaking 
last  night  of  the  importance  of  parents  facilitating  the  going  of 
their  children  to  the  mission  fields.  I  read  not  long  ago  that 
the  father  and  mother  of  John  G.  Paton.  from  the  day  he  was 
born,  prayed  that  if  it  were  the  will  of  God  he  might  give  himself 
to  missionary  service.  What  an  answer  to  prayer  was  his  vol- 
unteering for  the  foreign  field  !  And  what  a  demonstration  of  the 
reality  of  the  achieving  power  of  prayer  his  whole  missionary 
career  has  been  ! 

Do  we  want  larger  funds  of  money  with  which  to  have  prose- 
cuted the  missionary  enterprise'  In  prayer,  again,  we  find  the 
deep  secret.  Take,  as  an  example,  those  one  hundred  new  mis- 
sionaries  that  were  to  be  sent  out  by  the  China  Inland  Mission. 
That  society  had  been  receiving  no  large  gifts  for  their  work. 
Their  office  force  was  handicapped  and  overworked.  Hudson 


84  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Taylor  and  his  friends  were  led  to  unite  in  prayer  that,  if  it  were 
the  will  of  God,  the  amount  might  come  in  large  sums.  Notice 
what  took  place.  The  $50,000  required,  and  which,  by  the  way, 
meant  an  increase  in  the  budget  of  fifty  per  cent,  came  in  in  eleven 
gifts  ranging  from  twenty-five  hundred  to  over  twelve  thousand 
dollars. 

The  Gossner  Mission  was  literally  prayed  into  existence,  and 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  missionaries  w-ere  prayed  out  into  the 
field  by  that  wonderful  man  of  prayer,  Pastor  Gossner. 

Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon,  of  Boston,  told  me  a  remarkable  story  about 
his  own  Church.  The  congregation  was  made  up  of  the  middle 
and  poorer  classes.  As  the  result  of  years  of  cultivation,  his 
Church  was  giving  about  $5,000  to  foreign  missions;  but  Dr. 
Gordon  was  not  satisfied  with  this  in  view  of  the  awful  need  of 
the  non-Christian  world.  After  much  prayer  and  reflection,  he 
said  to  his  congregation:  "I  am  going  to  change  my  method. 
This  year  I  am  willing  that  we  should  use  what  machinery  is 
necessary,  but  I  am  going  to  call  upon  you,  between  now  and 
the  day  the  missionary  offering  is  to  be  received,  to  give  your- 
selves, in  the  Sunday  school,  in  the  young  people's  society,  at 
the  family  altars,  to  special  prayer,  that  God  may  move  us  to 
devise  more  liberal  things  for  his  kingdom."  "When  the  day  came 
for  receiving  the  gifts  to  foreign  missions  there  was  placed  upon 
the  altar  by  his  people  over  ten  thousand  dollars. 

One  of  our  young  men,  who  was  prevented  from  going  to  the 
foreign  field,  entered  the  pastorate  in  one  of  the  poorer  States 

A  missionary     west  cf  tjie  Missouri  river.    He  was  a  man  of  not  more  than  aver- 
ty  proxy. 

age  ability,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  had  hold  of  him.     He  said:  "If 

I  cannot  go  to  the  foreign  field,  then,  with  God's  help,  I  will  have 
my  Church  send  a  substitute.''  He  gave  himself  to  prayer,  and 
at  last  called  together  his  officers  and  presented  a  plan.  They 
objected,  and  he  was  so  much  grieved  that  he  actually  turned  his 
face  to  the  wall  and  wept.  But  he  kept  praying  to  God.  Later 
the  officers  of  the  Church  relented  and  said :  "We  will  let  you 
try  it."  He  preached  a  missionary  sermon  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  as  a  result,  to  the  amazement  of  those  officers, 
the  Church  gave  a  sum  more  than  sufficient  to  send  out  a  mis- 
sionary. And  to-day  that  Church  is  supporting  three  foreign 
missionaries  and  thirty  native  workers,  and,  in  the  process  of 
this  enlargement  of  its  influence,  has  paid  a  debt  of  over  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  Indeed,  "There  is  that  scattereth,  and  vet  in- 


PRAYER   AND    MISSIONS.  85 

creaseth ;  and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but   M0r 
it  tendeth  to  poverty." 

Dr.  Gulick  and  his  wife,  missionaries  in  Japan,  felt  the  need 
of  a  building  for  the  Christian  Association  in  Kioto.  They  wrote 
an  appeal  on  the  subject  to  the  Evangelist,  and  day  by  day  con- 
tinued to  pray  that  the  $2,000  needed  might  be  forthcoming. 
One  day  a  man  in  Buffalo,  whom  I  knew  very  well,  read  the 
article,  and  it  angered  him.  He  threw  the  paper  down,  but  then, 
acting  under  some  impulse,  he  picked  it  tip.  He  hid  the  paper 
away,  but  could  not  banish  that  appeal  from  his  mind.  At  last 
he  had  his  clerk  write  to  the  office  of  the  Evangelist  to  find  out 
whether  the  $2,000  had  been  received.  On  finding  out  that  it 
had  not  been  subscribed,  he  wrote  a  letter  promising  to  give 
$500  a  year  for  four  years. 

Would  we  have  the  missionary  agencies  that  are  now  at  work, 
at  home  and  abroad,  much  more  efficient?  Then  let  there  be 
more  prayer.  Each  year  there  is  poured  out  on  the  non-Christian 
world,  through  Bibles  and  tracts,  and  through  preaching  and 
teaching,  a  sufficient  amount  of  religious  truth  to  surpass  greatly 
what  was  proclaimed  through  many  long  years  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  Christianity.  The  reason  why  this  truth  is  not  achieving 
larger  results  to-day  is  not  because  of  neglect  on  the  part  of  the 
missionaries,  but  because  of  lack  of  prayer  on  the  part  of  the 
Christians  at  home.  If  we  were  giving  ourselves  more  faithfully 

o  o 

to  prayer,  we  would  have  larger  achievements  even  than 
those  that  now  inspire  us  in  all  the  foreign  fields,  and  which,  I  am 
obliged  to  say  in  fairness,  when  we  consider  the  difficulties,  are 
greater  than  those  that  attend  the  work  on  the  home  field. 

And  speaking  of  the  efficiency  of  the  work  on  the  foreign  fields 
leads  me  to  enter  a  plea  for  special  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. The  missionaries  whom  I  met  as  I  went  up  and  down 

,     .  Prayer  lor  tt; 

the    world    presented    one    unbroken    appeal    tor    more    prayer.   missionaries. 

Louder  than  the  call  "Come  over  and  help  us!"  sounds  the  ap- 
peal, "Brethren,  pray  for  us."  If  the  missionaries  in  this  Con- 
ference were  to  stand  here  and  speak  to-night,  they  would  say 
that  the  deepest  need  is  not  so  much  that  of  more  reinforcements 
in  men.  or  that  of  larger  gifts  of  money  (though  certainly  both 
of  these  are  needed),  but  that  of  more  of  the  mighty  force  of 
prayer  on  their  behalf.  \Ye  do  not  know  what  day  the  mission- 
aries may  need  our  prayers  the  most.  "God  forbid  that  I  should 
sin  against  the  Lord  in  ceasing  to  pray  for  you.5'  Let  that  pas- 


86 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


And  the  na- 
tive Chris- 
dans. 


Ceylon. 


sage  of  the  Scriptures  come  in  upon  us  with  crushing  force,  show- 
ing us  that  in  not  praying  for  the  missionaries  we  are  sinning 
not  simply  against  them,  not  simply  against  ourselves,  but 
against  God  himself. 

Let  us  not  forget  to  pray  for  the  native  Christians.  Remember 
that  they  have  come  up  from  sin  and  degradation,  that  they  are 
fiercely  tempted,  and  that  they  are  weak.  Remember,  also,  that 
far  more  for  the  ultimate  evangelization  of  the  great  non-Chris- 
tian fields  depends  upon  them  than  upon  the  foreign  workers. 
Let  us  pray  for  them,  therefore,  that  the  power  of  God  may  come 
upon  them.  There  was  a  Wesleyan  pastor  in  the  heart  of  China 
who  in  his  lifetime  was  instrumental  in  bringing  three  thousand 
people  to  Jesus  Christ.  I  refer  to  Pastor  Hsi.  Why  should  there 
not  be  more  like  him  ?  If  the  prayers  of  the  home  Church  would 
converge  upon  the  native  Church,  what  mighty  triumphs  might 
we  not  witness  in  every  one  of  the  great  mission  fields !  Let  us 
pray  also  in  order  that  there  may  be  great  spiritual  awakenings 
on  the  mission  fields.  One  of  the  principal  evangelists  of  North 
America  has  said  that  a  revival  may  be  expected  when  there  is  a 
spirit  of  definite  prayer  for  a  revival. 

The  Lone  Star  Mission  among  the  Telugus  gathered  in  about 
ten  thousand  souls  within  six  months  as  the  result  of  long-con- 
tinued prayer  on  the  part  of  missionaries,  native  Christians,  and 
Christians  at  home. 

The  great  work  under  the  leadership  of  the  Methodists  in 
Northern  India,  in  connection  with  which  literally  tens  of  thou- 
sands have  flocked  into  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  traceable, 
as  all  its  leaders  persist  in  telling  us,  to  intercessory  prayer. 

When  I  was  in  the  Fukien  Province  of  China,  about  four  years 
ago,  I  was  told  by  the  missionaries  that  in  the  year  preceding 
my  visit  there  had  been  in  that  province  five  thousand  baptisms 
and  twenty  thousand  inquirers,  and  that  one  hundred  villages, 
of  their  own  option,  had  asked  for  Christian  teachers.  They  told 
me  that  these  great  results  were  due  to  the  martyrdom  of  mis- 
sionaries and  native  Christians,  and  to  the  spirit  of  prayer  thus 
called  forth. 

When  I  was  in  the  island  of  Ceylon  I  was  awakened  one  morn- 
ing before  daylight  by  singing.  After  I  arose  I  was  told  that 
the  Christian  students  in  the  college  had  been  praying  that  there 
might  be  a  revival  in  that  college.  I  was  not  surprised  to  learn 


PRAYER   AND    MISSIONS.  87 

that  before  noon  that  day  they  led  a  number  of  their  fellow-stu-   MOTT< 
dents  to  Christ. 

Speaking  of  Ceylon  brings  to  memory  the  name  of  Miss  Ag- 
new.  She  has  been  well  called  "the  mother  of  a  thousand  daugh- 
ters." In  her  long  life  at  the  head  of  that  school  fully  one  thou- 
sand girls  were  influenced  by  her  example  and  words  to  enter  the 
Christian  life.  It  is  said  that  she  was  in  the  habit,  in  addition  to 
all  her  administrative  and  teaching  work,  of  setting  apart  certain 
hours  every  week  to  pray  for  the  girls  by  name. 

The  principal  of  a  missionary  school  in  Japan  said  to  a  friend  of 
mine  one  morning:  "There  is  going  to  be  a  great  revival  in  this 
school.  Some  of  the  students  spent  all  last  night  in  prayer." 
Sure  enough,  the  spirit  'of  revival  fell  upon  the  institution  that 
day. 

Dr.  Davis,  in  1883,  when  the  forces  of  skepticism  were  very 
strong  in  the  Doshisha,  wrote  to  a  number  of  colleges  and  the- 
ological seminaries  in  the  United  States,  asking  them  to  unite  in 

special  praver  for  that  institution  on  the  Dav  of  Praver  for  Col-   Tne  beginning 
i  TM_          1-1-  1        11  i  •        •  ™-i     .    of  a  revival. 

leges.      Iney  did  so  m  several  colleges  and  seminaries.     What 

took  place?  On  the  night  of  that  day  the  scholars  of  their  own 
accord  fell  into  serious  conversation  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
A  revival  broke  out  and  spread  until  it  had  reached  nearly  all  of 
the  students,  and  deputations  were  sent  out  to  scores  of  neigh- 
boring villages  to  proclaim  Christ  to  the  people. 

We  have  been  talking  about  forward  movements,  and  T  am 
inspired  by  the  one  inaugurated  here  in  this  convention.  If  yon 
could  know  the  hidden  history  of  every  great  forward  movement 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  you  would  be  able  to  trace  it  to  a  secret 
place,  where  you  Would  find  some  intercessor  like  Paul  or  Zin- 
zendorf  or  \Yilliam  Carey  or  Jonathan  Edwards  or  George  Miil- 
ler.  The  mill  streams  that  move  the  great  machinery  of  the  world 
rise  in  solitary  places.  From  some  of  the  hidden  lives  in  this 
very  convention  are  to  flow  out  streams  of  power  and  blessing 
into  the  world  to  make  glad  the  city  of  our  God. 

The  last  message  I  would  give  in  this  connection  is  that  the 
greatest  force  which  we  as  Christians  can  wield  is  the  force  of 
prayer.  T  do  not  know  much  about  the  power  of  prayer.  I  feel 

humiliated  as  I  have  examined  mv  own  experience.     Rut.  believe   The  pov>er  of 

praj-er. 

me.  I  know  about  failure  to  pray  and  the  consequences  thereof, 
and  with  this  knowledge  I  speak.  I  would  reiterate  the  dee]) 
conviction  that  prayer  is  the  greatest  force  which  we  can  wield. 


88  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MOTT-  It  is,  moreover,  the  greatest  talent  which  God  has  placed  in  our 

hands,  and  he  is  going  to  hold  every  one  of  us  to  a  strict  account 
as  to  the  way  in  which  we  use  this  talent.  What  blessings  we 
have  withheld  from  ourselves,  from  our  own  Churches,  and  from 
those  far-off  fields,. as  a  result  of  our  failure  to  pray !  The  greatest 
sin  that  we  have  ever  committed  is  the  sin  of  omitting  to  pray, 
the  sin  of  omitting  adequate  intercessory  prayer.  What  right 
have  we  to  neglect  or  to  leave  unappropriated  or  unapplied  this 
greatest  force  which  God  has  ordained  for  the  salvation  and 
transformation  of  men,  and  for  calling  into  being  and  energizing 
great  Christian  movements?  The  greatest  triumphs  of  the 
Church  are  going  to  be  witnessed  when  individual  believers 
everywhere  come  to  recognize  their  priesthood  unto  God,  and 
hood'of  fceiiev-  &lve  themselves  with  constancy  and  faithfulness  to  wielding  the 
ers,  irresistible  forces  of  the  prayer  kingdom.  Our  deepest  wish  to- 

night is  that  of  Spurgeon,  that  there  might  be  five  hundred  Eli- 
jahs, each  one  upon  his  Mount  Carmel,  making  incessant  men- 
tion of  the  mission  cause  in  prayer.  Then  that  cloud,  which  after 
all  is  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand,  would  spread  and  spread  un- 
til it  darkened  the  heavens,  and  the  showers  would  descend  upon 
the  thirsty  earth.  God  grant  that  among  the  results  of  this  great 
convention,  greater  than  the  magnificent  offerings  of  money  and 
of  life  service,  may  be  the  fact  that  down  deep  in  the  lives  of 
the  delegates  there  may  be  formed  an  undiscourageable  resolu- 
tion to  be  faithful  in  the  ministry  of  intercession. 

When  I  traveled  through  Palestine  I  said :  "If  this  hill  back  of 
Nazareth  could  give  forth  its  secret,  if  the  Lake  of  Galilee  could 
The  prayer  tell  what  it  witnessed,  if  these  desert  places  round  about  Jeru- 
life  of  Christ.  sa}em  couici  relate  their  story,  if  the  Mount  of  Olives  could  speak- 
out  and  tell  us  what  transpired  there — they  would  all  tell  us,  more 
than  anything  else,  of  the  prayer  life  of  our  Lord.  They  would 
reveal  its  intensity,  its  unselfishness,  its  constancy,  its  godly  fear, 
that  made  it  irresistible."  And  does  there  not  take  possession 
of  our  hearts  to-night  a  stronger  passion  than  ever  to  obey 
Christ's  command  to  pray  and  to  imitate  him  as  the  Man  of 
Praver? 


THE    ADEQUACY    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  89 

THE  ADEQUACY  OF  CHRISTIANITY  TO  MEET 
THE  WORLD'S  NEED. 

BISHOP    E.  R.  HENDRIX,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

THE  early  Christians  at  least  never  stopped  to  debate  the  ade- 
quacy of  Christianity  to  meet  the  world's  need,  but  with  profound 
and  aggressive  faith  they  sought  to  make  known  its  saving  pow- 
er among  nations.     They  believed  in  the  spiritual  dynamics  of  the 
gospel,  a  power  that  resided  in  the  truth  no  less  than  an  energy 
that  asserted  itself  through  the  zeal  of  those  who  received  it.     The 
more  formidable  the  difficulties,  the  graver  the  conditions,  the 
more  eager  the  desire  to  test  the  power  of  the  gospel.     It  was  the 
world's  need  that  even  attracted  the  apostles  and  missionaries,  for 
they  remembered  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus  how  he  said  :  "They 
that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  the  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick."     Therefore  the  more  desperate  the  case  the  more  anxious 
were  they  to  apply  the  remedy.     The  world's  need  was  a  perpet- 
ual challenge  to  the  gospel  with  its  power  of  an  endless  life. 
Great  cities,  then  as  now,  the  storm  centers  of  the  unemployed 
and  discontented,  with  their  congested  masses  of  the  vicious  and 
the  diseased, had  a  peculiar  attraction  lor  the  greatest  of  the  apos- 
tles.    Paul's  Waterloos  were  Antioch,  Ephesus,  and  Corinth,  thr 
most  populous  cities  of  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Greece,  but  he 
longed  to  preach  the  gospel  to  them  that  were  at  Rome  also.    To 
do  that  he  was  willing  to  undergo  shipwrecks  and  to  go  bound  in 
chains.     It  was  not  the  prosperous  journey  that  he  prayed  for,  as 
in  the  old  version,  but  that  if  by  any  means  he  might  be  prospered 
by  the  will  of  God  to  come  to  Rome.     It  was  because  he  was  con- 
scious of  having  some  spiritual  gift  to  impart  that  he  unceasingly 
made  mention  in  his  prayers  of  those  to  whom  he  felt  impelled  to 
go  that  he  might  have  some  fruit  among  them  even  as  among  the 
rest  of  the  Gentiles. 

It  was  a  mighty  spirit  that  declared:  "I  am  debtor  both  to 
Greeks  and  to  Barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  foolish.  So. 
as  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  also 
that  are  in  Rome.  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel,  for  it  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  ever}'  one  that  believeth  :  to 
the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.  For  therein  is  revealed  a 
righteousness  of  God  by  faith  unto  faith  :  as  it  is  written.  But  the 
righteous  shall  live  bv  faith."  It  was  doubtless  the  Roman  world 


9o 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Paul's  view. 


Cause  of  the 
World  's'needT 


that  Paul  had  in  mind  in  his  writings  and  preaching  when  he  de- 
clared that  this  gospel  had  been  preached  unto  the  Colossians  "as 
also  in  all  the  world."  That  was  the  world  of  Paul's  time,  embra- 
cing the  best  of  the  three  continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa, 
with  their  diversities  of  tongue  and  nationalities,  of  religions  and 
literatures  and  philosophies.  The  best  that  Persia  or  Greece  or 
Egypt  or  Rome  could  offer  or  produce  was  all  in  that  world  witli 
its  crying  needs  and  unassauged  sorrows  and  festering  wounds. 
So  confident  was  he  that  he  had  the  sole  remedy  entirely  adequate 
for  the  world's  need  that  he  proclaimed  himself  a  debtor  to  all  per- 
sons, of  whatever  speech  or  condition,  in  all  that  Roman  world. 
Nor  was  he  ignorant  of  the  worst  that  sin  has  wrought ;  for  nei- 
ther Juvenal  nor  Tacitus  pictures  the  uncleanness,  the  wretched- 
ness, the  malice,  the  self-complacency  of  wickedness  as  does  the 
inspired  apostlewho  has  the  sole  remedyin  the  Christian  religion. 
For  what  has  occasioned  the  world's  need,  with  its  ignorance, 
its  vice,  its  pollution,  its  squalor,  and  wretchedness?  "It  was 
sin  that  brought  death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe."  The 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now. 
It  is  sin  that  has  disturbed  the  world's  activity  and  harmony,  and 
the  world's  travail  is  in  hope  of  deliverance  from  this  body  of 
death.  The  world's  need  comes  through  its  ignorance  and  con- 
sequent helplessness.  Because  the  whole  head  is  sick  the  whole 
heart  is  faint.  The  world's  need  is  born  of  its  distrust  of  men,  who 
are  covenant  breakers,  without  natural  affection,  unmerciful.  The 
world's  need  is  the  more  appalling  because  of  human  selfishness, 
with  its  grasping  covetousness  and  cruel  ambition,  which  delight 
in  dragging  their  helpless  victims  at  their  chariot  wheels.  The 
need  of  the  world  is  for  light,  pardon,  comfort,  strength,  hope, 
purity.  That  Babylonian  sentiment  is  without  patience  and  with- 
out pity  which  says  :  "Let  the  fittest  survive  ;  none  other  deserves 
to.''  As  applied  to  men  and  women  it  is  the  motto  of  the  savage 
as  he  starts  on  the  warpath,  murdering  his  aged  parents  who 
cannot  keep  up  on  the  forced  marches  and  who  would  be  a  bur- 
den. The  pagan  philosophy  that  welcomes  famine  and  pestilence 
to  lessen  the  world's  over-population  finds  its  counterpart  in  the 
unrelieved  sadness  of  modern  science  which  sees  in  all  efforts  to 
better  the  state  of  the  weak  and  helpless  only  the  increase  of  the 
aggregate  of  human  suffering  by  augmenting  the  demand  without 
adequate  means  of  supply.  In  both  views  the  world  is  orphaned. 


THE    ADEQUACY    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  91 

It  was  this  wider  view  of  the  race  that  made  Voltaire  say  :  "Strike  >"><»><'*• 
out  a  few  sages,  and  the  crowd  of  human  beings  is  nothing  but  a  Scientific,  peg_ 
horrible  assemblage  of  unfortunate  criminals,  and  the  globe  con-  simism. 
.tains  nothing  but  corpses.  ...  I  wish  I  had  never  been 
born."  That  was  but  the  European  world  that  he  described  a 
century  and  a  half  ago.  At  that  very  time  Christendom  had  for- 
gotten the  great  heathen  world  where  scarce  a  missionary  held 
aloft  the  torch  of  truth.  Christianity  at  times  needs  to  apologize 
for  Christendom,  but  heathendom  is  the  perpetual  condemnation 
of  heathenism.  'The  idea  of  man  as  a  conscious,  rational,  moral 
individual,  of  worth  for  'his  own  sake,  of  equal  dignity  before  his 
Maker,  did  not  exist  in  antiquity  till  it  came  into  being  through 
Israel."  No  wonder  that  Xerxes  drove  his  soldiers  into  inclos- 
ures  in  order  to  number  them  like  so  many  cattle.  It  is  not  until 
we  see  the  individual  that  we  can  know  the  human  heart  and  dis- 
cover the  world's  needs  in  the  need  of  an  immortal  soul. 

There  can  be  no  remedy  without  a  correct  diagnosis  of  the 
world's  need.  It  is  superficial  treatment  that  sees  only  symptoms. 
Philosophers  and  thinkers  in  all  ages  have  had  much  to  say  of 
evil  and  of  suffering;  but  appalled,  they  have  passed  by  on  either 
side  without  pouring  in  oil  or  wine  into  the  gaping  wounds  of  hu- 
manity. The  spirit  of  fatalism  regarded  highway  robbery  as  one 
of  the  necessary  evils  of  the  road  on  which  the  race  was  traveling. 
Buddhism  therefore  sought  to  escape  from  existence,  with  its  at- 
tendant miseries,  while  Mohammedanism  taught  "Islam,"  or  sub-  The'sense  of 
mission  without  hope,  since  man  was  nothing.  A  world  is  bank- 
rupt in  morals  when  bankrupt  in  faith.  Christianity  is  the  reli- 
gion of  redemption.  Redemption  from  sin  is  the  world's  su- 
preme need.  But  the  confessed  existence  of  sin  is  possible  only 
when  there  is  a  holy  God  whose  law  has  been  violated.  Without 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his  law  man  has  never  had  the 
knowledge  of  sin.  It  is  unknown  in  the  heathen  world  as  the 
cause  of  its  suffering  and  its  woe.  Centuries  of  wretchedness 
have  not  awakened  the  consciousness  of  sin.  Nothing  can  do  that 
but  the  sight  of  a  holy  God.  The  race  is  not  simply  unfortunate ; 
it  is  sinful.  It  has  not  simply  violated  the  laws  of  health,  of  agri- 
culture, of  commerce,  or  reciprocity,  to  which  fact  its  misfor- 
tunes are  due.  It  has  broken  the  laws  of  a  holy  God.  and  its 
sins  are  the  fruitful  cause  of  its  suffering's.  It  is  sin  which  has 
dulled  the  intellect,  stupefied  the  sensibilities,  and  weakened  the 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


To  know  the 
remedy  we 
must  know 
the  disease. 


Goi  the  source 
of  conscience. 


will.  The  brutal  selfishness  of  man  is  due  not  to  the  animal  in  him 
so  much  as  to  the  devil  in  him.  It  is  to  the  narrowing  influence 
of  sin  that  social  relations  have  been  so  disordered,  the  caste  spir- 
it has  been  so  powerful,  and  war  and  bloodshed  have  abounded. 
To  deny  sin  is  to  deny  the  existence  of  any  law  or  code  of  ethics, 
any  source  of  divine  authority.  To  deny  sin  is  to  prevent  any 
exalted  conception  of  worship,  is  to  leave  the  world's  need  undi- 
agnosed  and  without  an  adequate  remedy.  Hence  what  a  beg- 
garly salvation  is  promised  by  any  other  religion  than  that  which 
reveals  the  Son  of  God  coming  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  In 
every  land  Christianity  has  done  more  since  its  introduction  than 
the  native  religion  in  all  the  past.  Whatever  fails  to  recognize 
the  moral  needs  of  man  is  impotent  to  supply  them.  It  is  not 
sanitation  the  world  needs,  but  salvation  ;  not  "bread  and  games," 
but  the  Bread  of  Life.  Art  cannot  gladden,  as  the  Greeks  learned, 
unless  inspired  by  hope.  It  was  only  when  Christ  was  made 
known  that  art  found  its  true  inspiration,  its  noblest  theme,  and  a 
Michael  Angelo  was  born,  "who  never  moved  his  hand  until  he  had 
steeped  his  inmost  soul  in  prayer." 

Christianity  not  only  diagnoses  accurately  the  world's  need  by 
pointing  out  sin  as  at  once  the  great  disturber  and  corrupter,  but 
it  alone  of  all  religions  reveals  a  righteous  God  who  is  alike  the 
Author  of  the  moral  law  and  its  Exemplar.  Morality  and  religion 
were  so  far  divorced  in  the  heathen  world  that  the  very  example 
of  the  gods  was  pleaded  in  excuse  for  every  sort  of  vice  and  crime. 
The  philosophers  who  taught  morals  grew  sick  at  heart  at  their 
little  success  because  of  the  corrupting  example  of  the  gods,  and 
wished  for  a  javelin  with  which  they  might  destroy  these  enemies 
of  society  like  Jupiter  and  Venus.  "There  was  not  a  gentleman 
on  Olympus,"  not  a  false  god  fit  to  be  invited  into  your  home  or 
to  converse  with  your  wife  and  daughters.  The  vileness  of  the 
Hindu  gods  is  the  great  foe  of  family  life  in  India  now.  The  deity 
taught  by  Mohammedanism  is  not  only  a  cruel  despot,  but  one 
who  panders  to  lust  in  furnishing  "the  black-eyed  houris"  of  the 
Moslem  Paradise.  In  the  gospel  alone  is  revealed  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,  a  God  who  is  both  the  author  and  exemplar  of  the 
moral  law,  inspiring  reverence  by  his  own  holy  nature  and  impart- 
ing of  his  strength  and  nature,  enabling  men,  giving  them  power, 
to  become  the  sons  of  God.  In  his  worship  alone  is  found  the 
spirit  of  true  devotion,  for  he  alone  can  awaken  devotion  whether 


THE    ADEQUACY    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  93 

in  angels  or  men  who  is  the  high  and  holy  One  who  inhabitetli  HENDRIX- 
eternity.  The  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty"  which 
the  angels  sing  ever  becomes  the  devout  song  of  men  when  the 
righteous  God  is  revealed.  Righteousness, if  it  exists  in  the  world, 
is  born  of  faith  in  a  holy  God.  His  nature  is  revealed  to  faith,  and 
the  righteous  live  by  faith.  Without  a  righteous  God  there  can 
never  be  a  righteous  world. 

Then  again  Christianity  speaks  with  sufficient  authority  to 
quicken  and  invigorate  the  conscience.  Christianity  may  almost 
be  said  to  create  a  conscience  as  in  the  Dark  Continent  and  other 
parts  of  the  heathen  world.  While  consciousness  is  the  knowl- 
edge of  ourselves,  conscience  is  in  the  knowledge  of  God  and  our- 
selves. Unless  there  be  belief  in  God,  there  is  no  sense  of  respon- 
sibility. 

If  there  be  no  lawgiver,  there  is  no  law  requiring  obedience,  and 
man  becomes  as  irresponsible  a  being  as  the  brute,  to  whom  no 
revelation  has  ever  come  or  can  ever  come,  because  he  is  incapable 
of  receiving  it.  The  conscience  of  the  Roman  was  awakened  by 
the  civil  law.  His  duties  were  those  he  owed  the  state.  His  re- 
ligion was  a  lifeless  ritualism,  a  punctilious  repetition  of  liturgical 
formulas,  burning  incense  before  every  oath  of  office,  to  vali- 
date every  note  or  mortgage  or  last  will  and  testament.  It  was 
reverence  for  the  state,  not  for  any  idol.  Among  the  Greeks  rail- 
lery and  jests  were  practiced  in  connection  with  the  most  solemn  other  religions 

religious  processions.     The  mysteries  awoke  no  sense  of  obliga-    wanting  in 
.  .  rr«       >-\  •  i  •  moral  sanc- 

tion, quickened  no  conscience.      I  he  Oriental  worship  was  a  sort    t;ons. 

of  orgy  in  which  ecstasy  exaggerated  almost  to  frenzy  took  the 
place  of  devotion.  Excesses  of  all  sorts  preceded  or  followed  the 
so-called  acts  of  worship  where  even  the  worship  itself  did  not  con- 
sist of  vile  and  sensual  practices  such  as  were  supposed  to  be  in- 
dulged in  by  the  gods  themselves.  In  Paul's  fearful  indictment  of 
the  heathen  world  he  says  that  they  not  only  do  such  things,  but 
take  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them. 

But  Christianity  does  more  than  reveal  a  righteous  God,  at 
once  the  Author  and  Exemplar  of  the  moral  law,  and  speak  with 
sufficient  authority  through  the  certainty  of  its  teachings  to  quick- 
en and  invigorate  the  conscience.  It  can  do  what  no  other  reli- 
gion can  do ;  it  can  make  alive.  ''Christianity  is  a  new  command- 
ment with  power  to  obey."  Christ  not  only  assumes  the  supreme 
place  as  the  Ruler  of  human  society,  "the  most  dramatic  move- 


94 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


IIEXDKIX. 


anity. 


ment  in  the  experience  of  collective  man,"  but  attached  to  every 
precept  is  a  promise  of  help.  If  the  law  was  given  by  Moses,  grace 
and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ.  Christianity  not  only  reveals  a 
righteous  God,  but  declares  that  man  too  may  be  righteous.  It  is 
a  revelation  to  faith  that  the  righteous  may  live  by  faith.  By  its 
help  the  withered  hand  may  be  stretched  out  and  the  palsied  limb 
begin  to  walk,  the  very  dead  can  come  forth  from  the  grave,  though 
bound  hand  and  foot.  Every  doctrine  of  Christianity  passes 
through  the  experience  of  Christian  living  and  becomes  real 
through  its  power  to  help.  God  is  a  Father,  Christ  is  a  Saviour, 
Reviving  pow-  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  Comforter,  there  is  fellowship  with  God's  peo- 
pie  who  have  had  like  experiences  of  truth,  and  there  is  an  in- 
dwelling power  to  help  overcome  evil.  This  is  the  victory  that 
overcomes  the  world,  even  our  faith.  Christianity  is  not  a  mere 
spirit,  a  spirit  unclothed,  but  it  enters  into  the  individual  that 
he  may  be  strengthened  by  God's  Spirit  in  the  inner  man,  it  enters 
into  the  very  institutions  of  mankind  and  molds  or  reforms  them 
for  its  own  purposes,  and  thus  changes  human  society  into  the 
Church  and  the  body  of  Christ.  The  Spirit  of  God  does  not  enter 
the  human  soul  as  something  foreign  or  extraneous  to  it.  He 
enters  it  as  the  principle  of  its  true  life.  The  word  '"holy"  is 
scarce  applicable  to  a  single  person  in  the  heathen  world,  but 
there  is  hardly  a  town  in  Christendom  that  has  not  had  some  holy 
person  who  showed  what  it  meant  to  receive  power  to  become  a 
son  of  God.  Faith  sees  a  righteous  God  and  becomes  like  him. 
He  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  what  we  ask  or 
think  according  to  this  power  that  worketh  in  us.  He  causes  the 
Spirit-filled  man  to  declare  :  "I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
that  strengthened!  me."  It  was  such  transforming  power  that 
made  men  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  so  that  when  any  great  en- 
terprise was  undertaken  in  the  Roman  Empire  men  knew  that  it 
was  either  the  Emperor  or  a  Christian  who  did  it. 

Henry  Drummond  somewhere  says  :  ''Next  to  love  for  the  chief 
of  sinners  the  most  touching  thing  about  the  religion  of  Christ  is 
its  amazing  trust  in  the  least  of  saints.  Here  is  the  mightiest  en- 
terprise ever  launched  upon  this  earth,  mightier  than  creation,  be- 
cause it  is  re-creation,  and  the  carrying  it  out  is  left,  so  to  speak,  to 
haphazard,  to  individual  loyalty,  to  free  enthusiasms,  to  uncoerced 
activities,  to  an  uncompelled  response  to  the  pressure  of  God's 
Spirit."  But  in  the  presence  and  leadership  of  the  Spirit,  and  in 


Drummond. 


THE    ADEQUACY    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 


95 


ligion. 


what  he  has  made  of  redeemed  man  and  can  do  with  redeemed  IIE*DRIX- 
man,  is  found  the  glory  of  our  religion.  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quick- 
eneth  and  leadeth.  "He  opened  the  portals  of  grace  to  the  Gen- 
tile world,  arranging  every  detail  of  the  special  service  at  which 
the  Roman  centurion  was  converted."  It  is  this  consciousness  of 
his  divine  presence  that  enables  a  devout  Church  to  say :  "It 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us."  Christianity  is  not 
alone  the  religion  of  redemption  for  the  individual,  but  it  makes 
him  the  instrument  of  redemption  to  his  fellow-man.  Other  reli- 
gions have  regarded  man  from  the  standpoint  of  the  state  or  as  a 
member  of  a  religious  brotherhood,  but  it  remained  for  Christian- 
ity to  teach  the  great  truth  and  fact  of  human  brotherhood  and  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  universal  man.  Only  a  universal  religion 
could  do  that,  one  having  in  it  the  very  elements  of  universal  pow- 
er and  conquest.  "I  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints"  is  im- 
possible to  any  pagan  creed.  Heathenism  was  without  congre-  Christianity  a 
gational  life.  Public  spirit  developed  itself  simply  on  the  polit-  umversal  r 
ical  side.  Christianity  taught  men  that  their  citizenship  was  in 
heaven,  and  organized  the  brotherhood  of  humanity  when  it 
taught  the  communion  of  saints  and  that  the  Church  existed  for 
the  edification  of  believers  and  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
Among  Buddhists  the  holier  the  man  the  less  he  had  to  do  with  his 
fellow-men.  He  was  so  saintly  as  to  be  absolutely  worthless.  His 
was  the  religion  of  selfishness,  not  helpfulness.  Little  did  Rome 
know  when  she  was  persecuting  the  early  Christians  that  she  was 
destroying  that  which  alone  could  save  her.  The  weak  side  of  the 
empire,  the  very  cause  of  her  ruin,  was  the  moral  deterioration  of 
the  lower  classes.  Her  adoption  of  Christianity  could  have  saved 
her  by  saving  them  and  their  rulers  as  well.  The  very  social 
meetings  of  Christians,  such  as  the  agap?e  or  love-feasts,  were  for- 
bidden tli rough  fear. 

Christianity  thus  lays  bare  the  world's  true  need  as  a  need  of 
redemption,  and  shows  a  righteous  Father,  against  whom  and  all 
whose  holy  attributes  man  lias  sinned.  Hut  man's  case  is  not 
hopeless,  because  Cod  is  a  Father  who  is  seeking  his  prodigal 
sons,  trying  to  bring  them  to  themselves  that  he  may  bring  them 
back  to  him.  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  hope  despite  the 
hopeless  condition  of  the  race  which  has  made  all  men  despair  of 
it  save  those  who  have  seen  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  shining  in.  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Though  sin  lias 


9-6  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

KE.N-DRIX.  bestialized  man  and  made  him  a  wolf  to  his  fellow-man,  the  larger 

o 

view  of  God  which  Christianity  gives  awakens  better  expectations 
of  man.     "Xo  universal  religion  can  hold  to  an  imperfect  con- 
ception of  God."     Only  a  God  of  infinite  perfections  can  have 
its  revelation    compassion  enough  and  patience  enough  and  love  enough  to 
of  God.  save  a  race  of  prodigals  who  have  wasted  both  substance  and 

life.  Christ  comes  into  the  midst  to  undertake  for  us,  and  lays 
down  his  life  to  show  the  possibility  of  forgiveness  with  God  and 
the  power  of  an  endless  life  in  man.  He  becomes  our  elder  broth- 
er to  teach  us  the  brotherhood  of  man,  a  doctrine  that  was  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  Jews,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness,  but  to 
us  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God.  This  regeneration 
of  man,  making  mankind  a  new  genus,  or  race,  is  possible  because 
at  bottom  man  is  a  spirit,  and  God's  appeal  to  the  deepest,  most 
central  part  of  man,  his  spirituality.  But  Christianity  does  not 
propose  simply  to  save  the  spirit  and  cast  away  the  body,  but  it 
teaches  that  the  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  Christ 
has  come  to  redeem.  It  is  a  complete  salvation  which  redeems 
both  body  and  soul.  But  it  is  more  than  all  this  :  it  is  an  enduring 
salvation,  for  it  saves  forever. 

Christianity  is  thus  the  final  religion,  because  none  can  ever 
arise  to  teach  or  do  more.  There  can  never  be  any  doctrine  high- 
er than  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  broader  than  the  brotherhood  of 
:-;s  Duality,  man,  deeper  than  sin  and  spirituality,  more  complete  than  the 
destiny  of  both  soul  and  body,  and  more  enduring  than  eternity. 
Christianity  is  like  the  holy  city,  the  new  Jerusalem  descending 
out  of  heaven  :  the  length  and  the  breadth  and  the  height  of  it  are 
equal.  It  is  the  very  tabernacle  of  God  with  men.  Its  perfec- 
tions exhaust  at  once  the  power  of  thought  and  speech,  as  we  be- 
hold the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  God. 

Not  only  is  Christianity  adequate  to  the  world's  need  because 
of  its  lofty  and  exhaustive  teachings  and  elevated  morals ;  there 
is  no  religion  comparable  to  it.  The  highest  aim,  whether  of 
nature  as  seen  by  the  agnostic,  or  of  Christianity  as  expressing  the 
mind  and  heart  of  God,  is  not  the  creation  or  production  of  any 
other  creation  or  production  of  any  other  creature,  but  the  per- 
fection of  man,  the  masterpiece  of  creation.  Man,  too,  is  the 
final  product  of  religion.  The  professed  aim  of  Buddhism  is  the 
extinguishment  of  personality ;  that  of  Christianity  is  the  fullness 


THE   ADEQUACY    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 


97 


unique. 


of  personality.  The  controlling  tho-ught  of  Buddhism  is  that  the  IIENI>KIX- 
only  good  Chinaman  is  a  dead  Chinaman ;  the  claim  of  Christian- 
ity is  that  the  best  man  is  not  the  one  who  has  the  least  but  the 
most  manhood,  whose  personality  is  not  diminished  but  complet- 
ed, and  that  the  truly  good  man,  whether  Chinaman  or  American, 
is  the  regenerated  one.  Islam  is  an  ethical  and  social  system  that  Christianity 
is  a  menace  to  the  world.  The  despotisms  where  it  prevails  are 
not  accidents,  but  the  legitimate  results  of  the  Koran ;  and  so  long 
as  the  Koran  exists  as  the  authoritative  book  nothing  better  can 
come  in  their  stead,  when  the  very  God  of  the  Koran  is  a  willful 
despot  and  men  are  simply  his  slaves.  If  England  has  a  sub- 
merged tenth,  what  shall  we  say  of  Turkey  and  Persia,  with  their 
submerged  nine-tenths?  Christ  alone  is  the  "Light  of  Asia." 
Only  under  the  influence  of  the  Christ  who  brought  immortality 
and  life  to  light  by  the  gospel  do  the  human  faculties  find  their 
largest  scope  and  play.  Because  man  is  an  immortal  being  he  is 
worthy  of  sympathy  and  help,  and  a  new  order  of  society  is  possi- 
ble, the  result  of  spiritual  forces  set  in  motion  through  Christ. 

Christianity  is  Christ,  and  there  is  but  one  Christ.  There  have 
been  many  prophets,  but  only  one  Christ.  There  have  been  many 
leaders,  but  only  one  Christ.  There  have  been  many  kings  and 
priests,  but  only  one  Christ.  There  can  be  no  second  Bethlehem, 
no  second  Calvary,  no  second  Olivet,  no  second  Christ.  And 
Christ  is  King,  because  he  is  Saviour.  He  governs  men  because 
he  has  redeemed  men.  Men  live  for  him  and  in  him  because  he 
died  for  them.  It  is  what  Christ  teaches,  what  Christ  suffers, 
what  Christ  does,  what  Christ  is,  that  makes  Christianity.  When 
any  other  religion  can  produce  a  Christ,  a  Saviour  of  his  people, 
then  alone  can  it  do  anything  adequate  for  the  world's  need. 

What  Christianity  can  do  for  the  world's  need  may  best  be 
known  by  what  it  once  did  for  the  world  in  which  Paul  preached 
it,  the  proud  Roman  world  coextensive  with  the  power,  the  cul- 
ture, the  religions  of  the  great  nations  of  the  three  then  known 
continents  which  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  while  the  Mediterranean  which  washed  the  shores  of 
these  continents  was  itself  a  Roman  lake.  Here  was  the  Pan- 
theon against  Christ,  all  the  gods  of  the  ancient  world  with  the 
Roman  emperor  at  their  head  deified  as  "lord  and  god"  to  repre- 
sent the  supremacy  of  the  state  against  one  whom  a  Roman  gov- 
ernor designated  as  "Jesus,  that  is  called  Christ."  That  the  re- 


What  it  has 
done. 


98 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


HENDRIX. 


' '  The  miracle 
of  history." 


The  secret  of 
its  smccess. 


ligion  of  Christ,  which  was  not  even  the  religion  of  his  own  peo- 
ple, a  people  subject  to  a  Roman  yoke,  should  overthrow  every 
religion  represented  in  the  Pantheon  until  the  gods  and  temples 
which  seemed  inseparable  from  the  literature  and  life  of  the  peo- 
ple should  be  left  without  a  single  worshiper,  and  only  broken 
images  and  altars  be  left  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  student  of 
the  classics  seemed  utterly  incredible.  As  Prof.  Freeman  says : 
"That  Christianity  should  become  the  religion  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire is  the  miracle  of  history,  but  that  it  did  so  become  is  the  lead- 
ing fact  of  history  from  that  day  onward."  The  converts  of 
Christianity  were  among  the  educated  rather  than  the  uneduca- 
ted, in  the  cities  rather  than  in  the  villages,  which  were  last  to  yield 
to  new  ideas  and  the  new  faith.  Paul's  great  Epistles,  with  their 
deep  thoughts,  their  closely  knit  reasoning,  and  their  views  of 
truth  reaching  out  into  the  eternities  before  and  after,  were  on  the 
face  of  them  not  intended  for  illiterates  or  weaklings.  It  was  then 
that  Christianity  showed  its  power  to  stimulate,  to  inspire,  and  to 
lead  the  world's  progress  because  of  what  it  did  to  meet  the  world's 
need.  Never  was  the  moral  disability  of  the  world  greater  than 
when  Christianity  began  its  triumphant  career  in  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  that  without  temples,  altars,  images,  and  opposed  less  by 
the  priests  or  decaying  religions,  too  far  gone  to  offer  violence 
than  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  state  and  the  proud  philosophy  of 
the  schools.  What  was  the  secret  of  its  triumph  ? 

Next  to  its  divine  Lord  and  Founder,  and  because  of  him,  its 
success  was  due  to  what  the  new  religion  did  in  satisfying  the 
world's  need.  Christ,  who  fitted  for  Paradise  the  dying  thief 
whose  faith  and  love  so  quickly  followed  his  penitential  tears,  was 
before  the  close  of  the  first  century  recognized  even  in  Caesar's 
household  as  greater  than  Caesar,  and  some  two  centuries  later 
was  worshiped  from  the  throne  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It  was 
Christianity  that  stopped  human  sacrifices ;  ended  the  gladitorial 
shows  and  licentious  sports  of  the  amphitheater ;  drove  from  the 
continent  of  Europe  the  unnatural  vices  which  Paul  described  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  which  still  abound  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  and  in  India;  put  an  end  to  the  exposure  of  infants  to 
death  by  wild  beasts  or  starvation  ;  checked  the  spirit  of  private  re- 
venge and  of  cruel  and  ceaseless  warfare  by  proclaiming  the 
"Truce  of  God"  from  Thursday  to  Monday  of  each  week  as  cover- 
ing the  time  of  the  passion  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord ;  abol- 


THE   ADEQUACY    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  99 

ished  slavery,  which  was  coextensive  with  Europe ;  taught  purity ;  HENDRIX- 
established  charities  of  all  kinds;  transformed  the  morals  of  Eu- 
rope and  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  sanctifying  childhood,  honor- 
ing womanhood,  and  reverencing  old  age.  All  this  was  done,  too,  The  need  met> 
despite  the  relentless  persecutions  in  Asia  Minor,  Africa,  and  Gaul, 
which  not  only  saturated  the  soil  with  blood  and  cast  the  ashes  of 
martyrs  into  the  rivers,  while  the  mocking  crowds  looked  on  to  see 
what  had  become  of  the  boasted  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  but 
furnished  such  countless  victims  for  the  Roman  amphitheater  that 
the  very  wild  beasts  tired  of  attacking  them  as  if  they  themselves 
had  become  men  when  the  Romans  had  become  beasts.  But  the 
real  triumph  of  Christianity  was  not  when  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tinewas  baptized,  or  even  when  the  Roman  Senate  formally  adopt- 
ed Christianity  as  the  true  and  only  religion  of  the  empire  ;  it  was 
when  the  emperor  Galerius,  who  was  the  real  author  of  the  most 
cruel  of  all  the  persecutions  under  his  predecessor  Diocletian, 
finally  put  an  end  to  the  burning  of  temples  and  sacred  books  and  *1 

the  slaughter  of  Christians  by  his  historic  edict  of  toleration  issued 
in  311,  which  declared  that  the  purpose  of  the  persecutions  had 
failed,  and  not  only  gave  permission  to  Christians  to  hold  their 
religious  assemblies,  but  added  this  instruction,  "that  after  this 
manifestation  of  grace  they  should  pray  their  God  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Emperor,  of  the  State,  and  of  themselves,  that  the  state 
might  prosper  in  every  respect  and  that  they  might  live  quietly 
in  their  homes."  This  was  when  the  Galilean  indeed  conquered, 
and  Paul,  who  had  fallen  a  martyr  before  one  Roman  emperor, 
saw  another  one  stand  up  for  prayers.  Then  it  was  from  the  third 
heavens  that  Paul  saw  things  on  earth  that  were  lawful  to  utter 
and  they  are  lawful  still.  The  hope  of  the  whole  race  as  that  of 
the  proudest  people  of  antiquity,  a  people  having  crucified  the 
Prince  of  Life,  sought  to  destroy  all  his  followers,  reveling  in 
power  that  was  rapidly  passing  away  before  a  kingdom  that 
should  endure  forever,  is  the  hope  alike  of  the  individual  and  of 
the  nation  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation to  everv  one  that  belie veth. 


IOO  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

THE   BIBLE   AND   MISSIONS. 

JOHN    FOX,    D.D. 

IT  is  good  to  be  here  and  to  breathe  the  spiritual  atmosphere  of 
this  place  of  prayer  and  holy  counsel.  I  rejoice  in  the  fervent 
glow  and  springtime  warmth  of  Southern  Methodism.  Blessed 
be  God  for  the  gracious  diversities  of  his  kingdom  that  makes  its 
true  unity  all  the  more  delightful !  It  binds  John  Calvin  and 
John  Knox  and  John  Wesley  into  that  fellowship  which  the 
elder  John  said  is  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ. 

The  subject  I  am  asked  to  treat  should  be  considered  pre- 
cisely from  the  spiritual  point  of  view,  already  so  eloquently  sug- 
gested to  you  to-day.  It  is  indeed  partly  a  question  of  organiza- 
tion and  of  the  technique  of  missions.  How  can  we  best  secure 
the  translation  and  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  universal 
Church  among  all  nations  and  peoples  and  kindreds  and  tongues  ? 
But  we  must  not  consider  such  a  question  merely  a  technical  one. 
We  need  to  look  at  it  from  the  standpoint  of  that  spiritual  unity 
which  Christ  announced  as  the  base  line  of  his  kingdom,  and  in 
obedience  to  his  valedictory  command. 

The  relation  which  the  Bible  sustains  to  missions  is  a  central 
and  governing  one.  They  are  not  the  offspring  of  natural  reli- 
gions. Their  charter  and  warrant  is  supernatural  revelation, 
the  Bible  and  Their  historical  appearance,  the  mode  of  their  development,  and 
ins'  the  principle  of  their  continuance  all  go  back  to  the  impregnable 

rock  of  Holy  Scriptures.  I  am  desired,  however,  not  to  discuss 
the  scriptural  warrant  for  missions  nor  to  trace  the  law  of  their 
conduct,  but  simply  the  uses  of  the  Bible  itself  as  a  weapon  for 
the  evangelic  conquest  of  the  world  and  the  organized  provision 
that  is  needed  for  supplying  the  Book  itself.  We  do  not  need 
to  begin  with  theories  or  speculation,  but  with  facts.  Bible  so- 
cieties are  facts,  established  institutions  and  powerful  factors  in 
the  religious  life  of  mankind.  They  must  be  counted  among  the 
most  effective  agencies  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  heathen 
lands.  It  is  well  for  us  to  emphasize  this.  When  the  history  of 
the  nineteenth  century  can  be  critically  estimated — it  is  too  early 
to  do  that  yet — we  may  be  sure  that  the  true  perspective  of  event? 
will  discern  in  the  Bible  Society  movement  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful forces  by  which  our  generation  has  been  molded.  It  is  a 
thrice-told  tale.  I  cannot  rehearse  it  now.  Like  many  other  great 
movements  in  history,  it  may  adopt  the  words  of  Isaiah  :  "A  little 


THE    BIBLE   AND    MISSIONS.  IOI 

child  shall  lead  them."  The  pious  desire  of  a  little  Welsh  girl  * 
for  a  Bible  provoked  the  zeal  which  has  in  Britain  and  then  in 
America  led  men  to  found  these  immense  fraternities  of  Christian  Beginnings. 
labor.  Where  is  their  like  to  be  found  ?  They  have  girdled  the 
whole  world  with  their  beneficent  ramifications.  We  hear  much 
of  the  Bible  as  literature.  If  it  were  only  literature,  there  would 
never  have  been  such  a  thing  as  a  Bible  Society.  There  are  in- 
deed societies  founded  for  the  purpose  of  interpreting  other  litera- 
ture— the  Browning  Society,  for  instance,  or  Shakespeare  Socie- 
ty— but  they  do  not  publish  editions  of  "Sordello,"  or  the  "Ring 
and  the  Book,"  or  "Hamlet,"  or  "Lear"  at  cost  prices,  and  scatter 
them  by  the  million  among  the  masses.  Bible  societies  are  gen- 
uine exponents  of  the  growing  solidarity  of  mankind.  They  have 
bound  together  Churches  in  spite  of  their  doctrinal  differences  in 
harmonious  cooperation.  They  have  forged  golden  bonds,  link- 
ing nation  with  nation.  There  is  no  more  powerful  bond  between 
Britain  and  America  than  the  English  Bible,  and  the  great  Bible 
Societies  have  clone  no  little  to  rivet  this  link.  But  the  English 
Bible  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  work,  priceless  as  it  is. 

The  historical  background  of  the  modern  Bible  Societv  is  nec- 
essary to  appreciate  its  significance  and  meaning.  We  have  to  The  historical 
go  much  farther  back  before  the  present  century  in  order  to  1)ack?r<>UIld- 
paint  this  background  in.  The  invention  of  printing  has  a  mani- 
fest relation  to  all  our  modern  organizations  and  the  Protestant 
reformation  and  the  revival  of  learning.  But  long  before  these 
events  there  is  one  little  fact  which  yet  may  be  called  the  fountain 
head  from  which  all  Bible  translation  and  circulation  may  be  said 
to  have  dated.  After  Alexander  the  Great  had  founded  Alexan- 
dria to  commemorate  the  glory  of  his  conquest  and  his  empire  a 
great  library  was  established  there,  a  collection  of  ancient  litera- 
ture probably  unsurpassed.  Among  other  things,  tradition  has 
it  that  one  of  the  Ptolomies  desired  to  include  the  Jewish  Scrip- 
tures, and  that  he  therefore  brought  Jewish  scholars  and  rabbis 
to  Alexandria,  and  made  what  is  now  known  as  the  Septuagint 
translation.  The  name  of  the  translation  suggests  that  there  may 
be  a  basis  of  fact  in  the  tradition,  though  we  know  it  is  not  all 
fact.  He  did  not,  as  tradition  has  it,  lock  these  scholars  up  sep- 
aratelv,  each  to  do  his  own  translating,  then  when  the  transla-  . 

,/.,„.,  xr          •  T 

tions  were  compared  find  them  exactly  agreeing.      Y  et  it  may   fiat. 
well  be  that  there  is  more  truth  than  legend  in  the  story,  for 
from  this  time  and  from   Alexandria  this  translation   certainlv 


IO2 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Early  trans- 
lations. 


'our  liundred 
^nd  tv/enty 


dates.  It  has  this  distinction  :  that  it  is  the  first  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  a  foreign  language  ever  made.  It  was  a  new  idea,  a 
new  chapter  in  human  history. 

For  be  it  remembered  that  Greek  was  becoming  the  general 
language  of  communication  among  civilized  nations,  and  that 
centuries  afterwards  it  continued  increasingly  to  be  so,  so  that 
when  Christ  came  he  found  multitudes  able  to  read  the  ancient 
oracles  in  the  language  which  they  understood,  and  the  New 
Testament  is  filled  with  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures made  from  this  very  Septuagint  translation. 

It  would  be  interesting,  if  there  were  time,  to  trace  the  line  of 
translations  beginning  two  or  three  centuries  before  Christ  and 
coming  down  in  the  language  of  every  principal  nation  round  the 
Mediterranean  basin  to  which  the  gospel  was  carried.  I  can 
now  only  beg  you  to  observe  that  this  process  of  translation  was 
checked  by  the  corruption  of  the  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  never  has  been  resumed  until  this  present  age  so  filled 
with  wonders. 

This  age  has  been  called  the  age  of  steel,  the  age  of  steam, 
the  age  of  electricity ;  it  is  emphatically  the  age  of  Bible  trans- 
lations. At  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  there  were  between 
fifty  and  sixty  translations  of  the  Bible  in  existence,  begin- 
ning with  the  Septuagint  and  coming  down  to  modern  times. 
By  1860  there  were  two  hundred  and  twenty  translations;  by 
1890  the  number  had  risen  to  three  hundred  and  thirty-one.  The 
last  ten  years  of  the  century  carried  us  well  over  the  four  hundred 
line.  There  are  now  upward  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  lan- 
guages which  contain  the  Bible  wholly  or  in  part,  so  that  the  in- 
crease has  continued  in  a  geometrical  ratio.  These  translations 
have  almost  always  been  made  by  missionaries,  or  under  their 
supervision,  but  often  they  have  been  begun  with  the  initiative 
and  the  encouragement  of  the  Bible  Society,  if  not  by  their  direct 
agency,  and  the  translators  have  been  paid  by  funds  provided  by 
them,  and  with  rare  exceptions  they  have  always  been  published 
wholly  at  the  expense  of  the  Society.  Few  persons  have  any 
idea  what  this  involves,  what  expense,  what  labor,  what  endless 
patience  and  tact  and  perseverance.  To  take  one  striking  illus- 
tration, the  American  Bible  Society  has  been  concerned  in  nearly 
or  (juite  twenty  different  translations  into  the  languages  of  the 
Chinese  Empire  alone.  Half  a  dozen  languages  and  dialects  are 
proceeding  now.  At  the  present  moment  translations  are  going 


THE   BIBLE   AND    MISSIONS.  IO3 

on  into  three  or  four  of  the  forty  or  fifty  languages  of  the  Philip- 
pines under  the  direction  of  the  American  Society,  and  into  as 
many  more  under  the  supervision  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Soci- 
ety. The  net  result  may  be  stated  thus  :  The  riches  of  God's  Word 
have  now  been  put  into  the  principal  languages  of  the  world,  but 
there  are  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  languages  and  dia- 
lects, at  a  conservative  estimate,  which  have  not  yet  been  touched. 
In  order  to  comprehend  this,  one  would  have  to  enter  into  a  mi- 
nute linguistic  study.  It  is  no  light  task  to  know  the  names  of  the 
languages  into  which  the  Scriptures  have  already  been  translated, 
and  to  weigh  these  dialects  in  the  scales  of  accurate  linguistic 
judgment.  To  form  any  estimate  of  the  necessity  that  there  may 
be  in  each  case  for  new  translations  requires  that  a  man  should 
give  himself  to  this  realm  of  sacred  learning  in  which  there  are 
at  present  but  few  men  who  are  competent  to  speak.  We  have 
here,  therefore,  a  department  of  foreign  missionary  effort  which 
calls  for  the  toil  of  scholars,  for  endless  patience,  consecration 
and  wisdom,  and  the  success  of  the  missionary  on  the  field  will 
depend,  in  some  measure  at  least,  on  the  skill  and  efficiency  and 
thoroughness  with  which  the  work  of  the  Bible  Society  is  done 
at  home.  The  translations  already  made  have  been  circulated  at 
cost  prices  or  for  far  less,  in  round  numbers  aggregating  two 
hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  copies,  counting  in  only  those  and 


which  have  come  from  the  presses  of  the  two  principal  Bible  million  copies. 

Societies.    They  have  mustered  for  this  purpose  an  army  of  col- 

porteurs, those  Cossacks  of  modern  Protestantism.     The  larger 

part  of  this  work  has  gone  out  into  heathen  nations,  "their  line 

has  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end 

of  the  world."    At  present  more  than  half  of  the  total  circulation 

is  foreign  mission  circulation. 

These,  I  say,  are  the  facts  obvious  and  undeniable.  Are  thev 
not  significant  facts?  Are  they  not  in  themselves  added  proof  of 
the  divine  power  of  the  Book  itself? 

The  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  missionary  weapon  is  a  Protestant 
practice,  not  a  Romish  one.  The  Bible  Society  is  the  corollary 
of  the  Protestant  reformation,  and  it  will  stand  or  fall  as  that 
great  historical  movement  is  justified  or  condemned.  The  con- 
trast  between  Rome  and  Protestantism  in  this  respect  is  very 
marked  and  striking  ;  never  more  striking  than  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  where  Rome  has  had  her  missionaries,  who  have  made 
grammars  and  lexicons  in  the  languages  of  the  Philippines,  and 


104  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

done  many  things,  but  they  have  never  translated  a  single  Gospel 
or  a  single  chapter,  so  far  as  we  know,  and  our  missionaries  and 
\    colporteurs  find  a  Roman  Catholic  population  very  eager  and 
hungry  to  read  the  Bible.  "We  want  to  read,"  they  say,  "what  the 
ancient  saints  have  said."     It  is  ours  now  to  give  them  the  op- 
i  portunity.     Nevertheless  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the 
policy   of  the   Roman   Church   has   not   been  from   the   begin- 
ning what  it  is  now.     It  was  a  missionary  Church  at  first,  and 
our  far-off  British  and  Teutonic  ancestors  owed  the  light  to  its 
missionaries.     Jerome  translated  the  Latin  Bible  for  the  same 
purpose  that  Tyndal  translated  the  English,  so  that  the  common 
people  might  better  read  it  and  understand  it.    At  the  Ecumen- 
ical Conference  in  New  York,  Canon  Edmonds  showed  that  the 
historic  and  ancient  policy  of  the  Christian  Church  for  centuries 
was  Bible  translation  and  circulation  in  the  languages  understand- 
able by  the  people.    Before  Martin  Luther  there  were  twenty  edi- 
tions of  the  Latin  Bible  printed  in  Germany  alone,  and  more  than 
Translations      a  dozen  of  the  Bible  in  German  up  to  the  time  of  his  nailing  up  his 
Council  of         immortal  theses.    It  was  the  Council  of  Trent  which  reversed  this 
Trent.  wholesome  ancient  practice.     Protestantism  is,  therefore,  no  de- 

parture from  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  but  a  return  to  primitive 
practice  in  the  use  of  the  Bible  just  as  much  in  missions  as  in  doc- 
trines. The  effect  of  the  Bible  Society  movement  has  been,  of 
course,  to  stir  the  wrath  of  the  papal  curia,  which  has  even  de- 
nounced the  institution  as  pernicious.  What  we  need  is  the  grace 
of  perseverance  in  the  path  marked  out.  With  this  we  may  hope 
in  some  cases  even  to  compel  a  return  to  the  historical  practice 
on  the  part  of  Rome  herselfj  There  are  instances  of  this  already. 
In  addition  to  the  translation  of  the  Portuguese,  made  by  Al- 
meida, a  Spanish  Protestant  (who,  however,  began  by  being  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  missionary),  there  is  another  version  by  Figureido 
who  was  a  Catholic,  though  an  opponent  of  the  Jesuits,  and  ap- 
parently not  overfond  of  the  pope.  The  effect  of  the  Bible  Soci- 
ety movement  has  been  most  remarkable  in  France,  where  the 
country  has  been  so  filled  with  the  Bible  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy  were  forced  to  petition  the  pope  to  make  their  own  trans- 
lation, and  a  very  good  one  it  is,  though  latterly  we  hear  that 
there  has  been  an  estoppal  put  upon  its  use. 

In  Italy,  when  the  pope  was  driven  out  of  Rome  by  the  revolu- 

'    tion  in  1848,  a  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  Italian  was  published. 

As  soon  as  he  returned  he  burned  the  Scriptures.     But  what  a 


THE    BIBLE    AND    MISSIONS.  IC>5 

marvelous  change  has  come  about.  Not  only  in  Rome  itself,  but  rox- 
in  other  principal  towns  of  Italy,  the  Scriptures  are  freely  sold. 
We  sometimes  get  at  the  Bible  House  in  New  York  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  Signer  Giovanni  Diodati.  Giovanni  Diodati  The  Bn,ie  jn 
translated  the  Scriptures  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  these  poor  Italy. 
Italians  who  come  to  America  see  the  name  on  the  title-page, 
and  fancy  that  he  is  the  author  of  the  book,  and  so  write,  asking 
him  to  send  them  a  copy.  It  gives  us  no  small  pleasure  to  know 
that  we  are  at  least  continuing  in  spirit  the  work  of  Diodati,  and 
that  they  of  Italy  in  this  age,  as  in  the  apostolic  age,  can  salute 
us  and  desire  to  read  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  learn 
the  way  of  salvation  by  faith  alone.  Dr.  Gust,  Vice  President  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  relates  how  some  years 
ago  Cardinal  Manning  visited  the  Bible  House  in  London  that 
he  might  obtain  a  copy  of  the  translation  into  a  certain  language. 
He  was  taken  to  see  the  library  of  the  Society,  a  wonderful  ex- 
hibition of  what  God  hath  wrought,  and  when  he  beheld  it  he 
exclaimed:  ''Truly  the  Holy  Spirit  is  poured  out  upon  us.  That 
is  the  secret  of  it."  Let  us  not  despair,  for  even  among  those 
who  have  hitherto  opposed,  and  opposed  bitterly,  this  great  work 
there  is  a  remnant,  and  to  them  shall  come  repentance  and  a 
return  to  the  most  ancient  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  it- 
self, and  of  all  Christian  Churches. 

There  are  two  great  general  divisions  of  foreign  mission  work, 
one  of  which  is  suggested  by  what  has  just  been  said.  We  must 
carry  the  gospel  into  papal  lands  and  into  pagan  lands.  It  is  not 
possible,  indeed,  to  make  this  division  an  absolute  and  exact  one. 
for  there  are  some  lands  which  are  partly  papal  and  partly  pagan, 
as  there  are  some  where  the  papal  theory  of  the  Church  and  the 
Bible  still  struggles  with  the  Protestant  view  of  it.  This  whole 

Western  continent  has   witnessed     a   mightv   struggle   between   Pa?an  and 

,fe      .  papal  lands, 

these  two  forces,  and  our  own  land  has  been  predominantly  a 

Bible  land.  Yet  even  in  the  LTnited  States  we  know  what  marked 
exceptions  there  are  to  this,  as  I  need  not  remind  you  in  this 
place  where  French  Catholic  influence  has  been  so  strong.  Not 
long  since,  in  visiting  the  Montreal  branch  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society,  I  listened  to  an  eloquent  address  from  a  French 
Canadian  Protestant,  who  brought  the  fraternal  greetings,  as  he 
said,  of  forty  thousand  like  himself.  Some  of  these  forty  thousand 
are  in  the  United  States  :  some  of  them  in  Canada,  the  only  coun- 
try, I  suppose,  under  the  British  flag  which  is  predominant!}-  Ro- 


io6 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Hew  Orleans 
and  the  open 
BiWe. 


man  Catholic,  and  where  the  old  reformation  battle  about  the 
Bible  still  has  to  be  fought  out.  He  told  the  story  of  how  the 
copy  of  a  single  Bible  in  a  log  hut  led  to  the  foundation  of  a 
Protestant  institution  which  has  already  educated  over  four  thou- 
sand young  French  Canadians. 

It  is  well  that  these  facts  should  be  signalized  in  this  beautiful 
city,  so  overflowing  with  gracious  hospitality,  so  full  of  a  certain 
romantic  attraction  to  those  of  us  privileged  to  come  here.  We 
desire  to  speak  with  appreciation  of  what  we  see.  Nevertheless, 
we  cannot  but  remember  many  things  that  have  happened  in  the 
past,  and  that  still  continue.  When  Bienville  and  his  associates 
came  from  Canada  and  laid  the  foundation  of  this  city  and  its 
civilization,  if  they  had  brought  with  them  the  French  Bible 
and  made  it  the  common  possession  of  the  people,  does  any 
one  suppose  it  would  not  have  made  a  mighty  difference  in  the 
character  of  the  society  which  has  grown  up  here?  And  if  they 
would  still  turn  not  away  from  the  Church,  but  back  to  its  nobler 
past,  its  ancient  precedents,  and  give  the  people  the  Scriptures  so 
that  they  could  understand  them,  would  it  not  at  once  elevate 
the  whole  character  of  the  Catholic  population  here? 

But  when  we  cast  our  eyes  southward  we  seem  to  hear  the 
trumpet  sounding  us  to  the  battle.  Three  hundred  years  ago, 
under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,  old  Master 
De  Reyna  toiled  over  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Spanish. 
How  dark  it  must  have  seemed  to  him ;  how  hopeless !  The 
Spanish  monks  were  many  of  them  exceptionally  ignorant.  You 
may  remember  the  old  story  of  the  Spanish  monastery,  where 
it  was  claimed  that  they  had  in  their  possession  the  original  man- 
-  uscript  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel.  They  declined  to  exhibit  it  for 
some  time,  but  were  finally  persuaded  to  do  so,  and  lo,  it  was 
seen  to  be  in  Spanish.  I  believe  in  prophetic  inspiration,  but  it 
would  indeed  have  been  a  more  marvelous  inspiration  if  St.  Luke 
had  been  inspired  to  write  in  a  language  which  had  no  existence 
during  his  lifetime.  But  DC  Rcyna  put  Luke's  Gospel  and  other 
books  into  Spanish,  and  a  little  later  on  Valera  completed  the 
task,  and  thus  God  had  put  into  the  hands  of  men  the  key  to 
open  the  South  American  continent.  We  have  had  a  more  mod- 
ern version  since,  made  by  one  of  our  own  missionaries,  and  these 
two  are  friendly  rivals  in  the  affection  of  our  missionary  Churches. 
The  Spanish  conquerors  of  Peru  and  its  neighboring  provinces 
brought  no  weapons  so  quick  and  powerful  as  that  old  Valera 


THE    BIBLE   AND    MISSIONS.  107 

version  destined  to  do  its  great  work,  thus  far  not  in  old  but  in  ' ox- 
new  Spain.  Before  the  Spanish-American  war  forty  thousand 
copies  were  circulated  in  Cuba,  where  as  yet  Protestantism  had 
hardly  begun  to  be.  During  the  last  year  the  circulation  has  been 
nearly  one  thousand  copies  a  month  in  the  "Pearl  of  the  Antilles." 
One  of  the  Canons  of  the  Havana  cathedral  visited  the  Bible 
House  not  long  ago,  and,  though  still  under  the  thraldom  of  the 
Romish  system,  was  manifestly  impressed  with  what  he  saw. 
Well  he  may  have  been.  God  speed  the  day  when  the  cathedral 
will  no  longer  be  a  bushel  to  hide  the  light  of  the  gospel ! 

In  Ecuador  sixty  years  ago  a  high  official  declared  that  no 
Protestant  Bible  should  enter  that  country  as  long  as  Chimborazo 
stood.  Chimborazo  still  stands,  and  our  principal  agent  has  been  Opening  of 
received  in  due  form  and  ceremony  by  the  President  of  the  Re-  Ecuador, 
public  of  Ecuador,  and  though  the  circulation  is  not  yet  im- 
mense, still  the  Word  has  found  entrance,  and  it  will  not  return 
void  to  Him  that  sent  it.  Perhaps  there  is  no  darker  country 
than  Ecuador.  I  speak  with  hesitation,  because  I  know  I  speak 
in  the  presence  of  missionaries  who  have  stood  on  the  frontier 
line  all  over  South  America,  not  only  in  Spanish-speaking  coun- 
tries but  in  Brazil,  where  the  Portuguese  Bible  is  our  weapon. 
The  stories  that  reach  us  from  these  lands  smack  of  the  marvelous. 
If  they  were  not  well  vouched  for,  we  could  scarcely  credit  them. 
Some  of  them  reveal  the  darkness  and  others  the  marvelous 
power  of  the  light.  This  succinctly  describes  the  struggle  of 
the  Bible  in  the  South  American  continent.  Dr.  Chamberlain, 
of  Brazil,  told  us  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  this  astounding 
fact.  The  editor  of  the  principal  newspaper  published  an  article. 
He  was  a  friend  of  Dr.  Chamberlain's,  and  rather  resented  his 
criticism  of  the  general  lack  of  religious  intelligence  in  the  com- 

munitv  where  he  lived.     One  dav,  however,  he  said  to  him  :  "I 

....  .  .  .    .         „    Conditions  1» 

nave  been  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  your  criticism.     Brazil. 

During  holy  week,  the  day  before  Good  Friday,  he  had  published 
the  gospel  narrative  of  the  passion  and  crucifixion  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  To  his  utter  astonishment,  the  day 
after,  senators,  judges,  men  of  science,  men  of  light  and  reading 
in  the  community  spoke  to  him.  congratulating  him  on  the  ad- 
mirable article  he  had  written.  If  this  be  an  index  of  the  culti- 
vated classes  of  South  America,  what  can  we  hope  for  the  down- 
trodden and  struggling  masses.  Yet  it  is  precisely  among  them 
that  we  hear  from  many  sources  of  the  wonders  that  God  hath 


io8 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  Bible  in 
an  ash  tarrel. 


A  gospel  fc; 
the  ijl::ic  i;i 
Portuguese. 


wrought.  One  of  your  own  ministers,  Rev.  Mr.  Tucker,  has  writ- 
ten us  lately  that  once  preaching  in  the  summer  time  in  the 
mountains  he  noticed  an  old  black  man  whose  face  shone  as  with 
an  inward  light,  and  he  seemed  to  respond  intelligently  to  what 
he  said.  On  talking  with  him  afterwards  he  found  that  years  be- 
fore this  old  man,  a  slave,  had  been  set  to  clear  up  an  outhouse, 
and  found  amid  the  rubbish  an  old  book.  He  knew  the  name  of 
our  Saviour,  and  saw  it  on  the  cover,  so,  carrying  the  book  home, 
at  night  he  sat  down  by  his  little  candle  to  read.  He  read  with 
streaming  eyes  far  into  the  night,  and  again  when  night  came, 
astounded  and  amazed.  For  seventeen  years  he  cherished  the 
book  among  the  sacred  things  which  he  kept,  allowing  no  one 
to  touch  it,  and  making  a  little  ark  in  which  to  keep  it.  He 
searched  the  Scriptures,  but  with  no  one  to  guide  him  until  in 
another  village  he  met  a  black  woman,  who  took  him  to  a  mis- 
sion chapel  where  he  could  learn  more  perfectly  the  way  of  God, 
and  when  at  last  Mr.  Tucker  found  him  he  was  wise  unto  sal- 
vation. In  the  discussions  that  have  surrounded  the  Gospel  of 
John,  some  one  has  said  that  the  evidence  of  its  divine  character 
is  so  clear  that  if  we  were  to  find  it  in  an  ash  barrel  without 
any  clew  to  its  origin  we  would  know  that  divine  forces  had  been 
concerned  in  the  production  of  it.  It  is  not  a  supposition,  but 
an  actual  fact,  that  the  New  Testament  has  been  found  thus  amid 
the  rubbish,  and  that  the  light  which  shines  from  it  is  so  bright 
that  the  wayfaring  man,  poor  and  untaught  though  he  be,  is  led 
to  Him  whose  glory  it  reveals.  I  doubt  not  that  the  missionaries 
here  present  could  supply  innumerable  illustrations  of  the  same 
thing,  and  the  brightest  hope  that  we  have  for  the  neglected  con- 
tinent is  that  in  many  places  where  yet  the  missionary  has  not 
gone,  and  cannot  go,  the  Word  has  gone,  and  when  he  comes 
he  will  find  the  way  prepared  before  him. 

There  has  recently  been  published  the  Gospel  of  John  in  raised 
letters  for  the  blind  in  Portuguese,  and  it  is  surprising  how  the 
Romish  authorities  have  been  perturbed  because  in  blind  schools 
and  elsewhere  the  people  now  could  feel  out  the  truth.  What  can 
cure  that  blindness  of  the  mind  which  will  not  let  God's  poor 
downtrodden  people  use  their  senses  when  they  have  them,  and 
read  for  themselvs  what  things  God  hath  prepared  in  his  Word 
for  those  who  need  him  ?  What  we  need  is  a  Bible  for  blind  lead- 
ers of  the  blind,  that  they  may  not  both  fall  into  a  ditch.  All  your 
mission  stations  in  South  America  bear  eloquent  testimony  to 


THE    BIBLE   AND    MISSIONS.  ICX) 

the  indispensable  necessity  and  the  immeasurable  power  of  the  * 
living  Word  in  Spanish  and  in  Portuguese  in  that  great  neglected 
Southland  of  Latin  America.  This  is  an  obligation  which  rests 
surely  upon  our  Churches.  There  must  be  a  Monroe  doctrine  in 
things  missionary;  not  an  unworthy  jealousy,  indeed,  but  a  gen- 
erous emulation.  Let  us  be  governed  by  the  Pauline  doctrine, 
by  which  we  stretch  out  into  the  regions  beyond,  and  fill  this 
whole  Western  continent  from  the  frozen  north  to  the  farthest 
verge  of  the  Southern  continent  with  this  world-transforming 
Book.  But  if  we  are  to  do  this,  one  thing  must  be  remembered. 
It  is  a  startling  fact  that  was  stated  at  the  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence that  at  least  one-half  of  the  population  of  South  America 
cannot  speak  a  word  of  Spanish,  and  has  not  a  drop  of  Spanish 
blood  in  its  veins.  There  are  three  hundred,  in  round  numbers, 

of  Indian  tribes,  manv  of  them,  probably  most  of  them,  illiterate,  Indian 

.  ."  .     .        lations  of 

their  languages  doomed  to  perish  as  civilization  advances,  if  in-  south  Ameri- 

deed  they  themselves  survive.  The  degradation  and  ignorance  ca- 
and  pitiful  darkness  in  which  they  live  have  stirred  up  the  heroes 
of  the  pioneer  corps  in  missions  to  go  to  them.  There  has  been 
a  beginning,  but  probably  only  a  beginning,  made  in  Bible  trans- 
lations among  these  Southern  tribesmen.  We  are  grappling  here 
not  with  corrupt  Christianity,  but  with  utter  paganism  ;  in  many 
cases  with  a  strange  intermixture  and  infusion  of  a  few  of  the 
external  marks  of  nominal  Christianity  and  a  deep-seated  super- 
stition, darkest  heathendom,  even  cannibalism,  if  we  may  believe 
some  travelers.  The  heart  and  mind  of  Christendom  has  turned 
to  the  East  as  the  chief  field  for  missionary  activity.  We  must 
certainly  not  forget  our  neighbors  to  whom  we  are  intrusted  in 
a  special  sense  with  the  gospel,  and  we  must  not  rest  contented 
until  in  some  form  every  tribe  and  tongue  south  of  the  Isthmus 
has  received  some  of  the  riches  of  the  Word  of  God. 

This  but  introduces  us  to  the  large  problem  which  I  have  thus 
far  been  able  only  to  touch  upon.  The  Christian  faith  has  met  and 
done  battle  with  the  hoary  systems  of  heathendom  in  the  darkness 
of  the  Dark  Continent,  in  the  false  lamour  that  shines  over  the 


lands  where  Buddha  reigns,  in  the  dim  twilight  of  far  Cathay  *  ai 
and  the  islands  of  the  South  Seas.  The  vastness  of  the  task  op- 
presses us.  How  can  we  organize  our  missions  so  as  to  be  effect- 
ive? How  shall  we  avoid  complications  following,  whether  we 
will  or  not,  in  the  wake  of  the  advancing  missionary  host  ?  A 
thousand  difficult  questions  start  up,  some  of  them  pressing  for 


no 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Bible  schools. 


The  Bible  the 
liie-blood  of 
the";church. 


settlement  in  Churches  to-day,  and  we  must  not  suppose  that 
others  still  more  difficult  will  not  arise.  The  great  wave  of 
rationalism  has  rolled  over  some  of  the  newborn  Churches  of 
the  East.  It  has  touched  Japan  and  shaken  the  Japanese 
Church  to  its  foundation,  almost  wrecking  one  great  school 
of  learning  founded  by  Western  benevolence.  There  must  be 
developed  immediately  a  biblical  Christianity.  The  theological 
seminaries  in  China  and  Japan  must  not  be  suffered  to  become 
schools  of  skepticism.  The  schools  of  lesser  grade,  down  to 
the  lowest,  must  be  Bible  schools,  all  of  them.  The  general  mass 
of  Church  members  in  those  countries  must  be  Bible  students 
as  we  and  our  ancestors  have  been  and  as  we  wish  our  children 
to  be.  Do  you  think  this  can  be  done  unless  there  is  effective 
organization  for  Bible  translation  and  circulation? 

Let  us  give  ourselves  more  earnestly  to  the  circulation  of  this 
Book.  The  circulation  of  the  Bible  is  like  the  circulation  of  the 
blood.  The  life  is  in  the  blood,  so  the  Book  says,  but  in  order 
that  it  may  do  its  work  there  must  be  a  circulatory  system.  Na- 
ture has  provided  for  the  circulation  of  the  blood  through  veins 
and  arteries,  but  for  the  Bible  there  is  no  natural  provision.  We 
must  construct  a  circulatory  system.  This  is  the  function  of  the 
Bible  Societies  with  all  their  endless  ramifications  stretching  out 
over  continents  and  girdling  the  world.  It  is  for  us  to  see  that 
this  system  is  kept  in  thorough  repair,  heart  joined  to  heart.  It 
must  be  adjusted  and  coordinated  with  all  the  other  functions  of 
the  body  of  Christ,  so  that  this  Book,  the  vehicle  of  life  and  health 
to  men  and  nations,  may  be  kept  in  continued  living  relation  with 
all  mankind. 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  PASTOR  AS  TO  MISSIONARY 
EQUIPMENT  AND  LEADERSHIP. 

DR.  \V.  E.  EDWARDS. 

WE  open  the  Gospels.  The  silence  of  centuries  is  broken  by 
the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness  :  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight."  Immediately  Christ  comes 
forth  from  the  seclusion  of  Nazareth.  He  begins  and  complete? 
his  ministry.  A  kingdom  is  established.  Its  first  proclamation, 


THE   DUTY    OF   THE    PASTOR.  Ill 


KDWAKDS. 


as  a  perfected  scheme,  is  upon  the  streets  of  Jerusalem.  Yet  the 
Holy  City  cannot  confine  the  movement.  The  city  is  simply  a 
starting  point — a  divinely  designated  Palos  in  the  world's  wide 
arena,  the  sea  destined  in  the  providence  of  God  to  be  whitened 
with  the  sails  of  Christian  enterprise.  Nay,  more.  The  design 
of  the  kingdom  is  as  minute  as  it  is  comprehensive.  The  indi- 
vidual is  worth.  Every  man  is  to  hear  the  wonderful  works 
of  God  in  his  own  tongue  wherein  he  was  born. 

By  what  plan  or  method  is  this  world-embracing  kingdom  to 
accomplish  its  stupendous  conquests?  We  answer:  Primarily, 
and  chiefly  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Church.  This  in 
no  wise  ignores  or  undervalues  the  earnest  effort  of  individual  be- 
lievers. Every  converted  man  becomes,  through  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  a  center  of  missionary  power.  He  is  born  again.  He 
comprehends  in  some  measure,  the  gracious  purpose  of  the 
Father  in  the  gift  of  his  Son.  He  sympathizes  with  spiritual 
wretchedness,  and  is  ready  to  leave  home  and  to  cross  seas  and  to  The  church, 
brave  the  perils  of  benighted  lands  for  the  brother  he  longs  to 
save.  To  know  Christ  is  to  be  identified  with  him  in  spirit  and  in 
work.  But  as  important  as  private  zeal  confessedly  is,  yet  more 
than  this,  and  a  readier  and  more  available  force  than  this,  Christ 
founds  a  Church  and  expects  his  disciples  to  connect  themselves 
with  it,  and  to  move  together  in  a  holy  and  blessed  unity  for  the 
spread  of  the  truth  from  east  to  west  and  from  pole  to  pole. 

Headship  in  this  society  belongs,  of  right,  to  the  ministry.  The 
kingdom  is  invisible.  It  is  in  the  heart  by  the  Spirit,  and  its  en- 
trance and  continuance  are  noiseless  and  not  with  observation. 
The  Church,  however,  is  visible — a  veritable  organization  with  its 
laws  and  rites  binding  upon  the  conscience  of  its  subjects.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  not  an  accident.  It  is  of  reason  ;  and  is  essen- 
tial, at  once,  to  the  existence  of  the  Church  and  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  its  work  and  to  the  healthful  development  of  the  life  that 
is  in  the  kingdom  itself.  The  organization,  indeed,  is  worthless  "if 
the  spiritual  substance  is  wanting:  but  the  spirit,  on  the  other 
hand,  cannot  live  without  taking  on  a  worthy  and  adequate  form." 
It  is  this  fact  that  Christ  emphasized  when  he  outlined  the  Church 
and  committed  the  management  of  its  affairs  to  the  apostles  and, 
through  the  apostles,  to  the  ministry  of  that  age  and  to  the  min-  It8  Iea,ier3< 
istry  of  succeeding  time.  In  other  words,  the  apostles  company 
with  the  Master:  and  no  sooner  does  the  Master  complete  his 


112  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

work  and  return  to  the  Father  than  the  apostles  step  forward  into 
a  larger  prominence,  and  are  recognized  as  authority  upon  all 
matters  of  faith  and  practice.  And  these  apostles,  as  the  accred- 
ited representatives  of  the  new  and  perfected  dispensation,  trans- 
mit the  government  of  the  Church  to  an  ordained  ministry.  Thus 
St.  Peter  commands  the  pastors  of  the  Churches  which  he  found- 
ed :  "Feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  taking  the  over- 
sight," or,  more  properly,  "being  the  bishops  or  superintendents 
thereof."  And  Paul  is  no  less  clear  and  decided  in  utterance. 
He  entreats  the  elders  at  Ephesus :  "Take  heed,  therefore,  unto 
yourselves,  and  to  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made 
you  overseers."  And  then,  in  another  place,  he  directs  the 
Church :  "Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit 
yourselves :  for  they  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  give 
account." 

There  is  no  question,  therefore,  as  to  where  authority  in  the 
Church  of  God  is  lodged.  It  is  with  the  ministry.  They  may, 
indeed,  call  others  to  their  assistance.  This  ofttimes  will  be  wise 
and  necessary.  Yet  they  are  never  to  forget  the  high  position 
which  they  occupy  and  the  weighty  responsibility  that  is  imposed 
upon  them.  They  are  the  guardians  of  the  flock.  They  are  to 
"reprove,  rebuke,  exhort  with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine." 
They  are  to  plan  and  to  take  the  lead  in  the  mighty  movements 
which  look  to  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ. 

Missions,  in  this  arrangement  of  things,  are  manifestly  not  a 
mere  appendage  to  the  Church,  a  side  issue  that  may  be  accepted 
or  rejected  with  pleasure.  They  are  woven  into  the  very  con- 
Piace  of  mi»-  ception  of  the  kingdom  and  are  to  find  expression  through  its  di- 
vinely sanctioned  and  appointed  agency.  They,  therefore,  come 
under  the  special  care  and  supervision  of  the  minister. 

The  first  thing  demanded  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  mis- 
sionary work  is  the  thorough  equipment  of  the  minister  himself 
for  the  part  assigned  him,  under  God,  in  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel.  \Ye  here  get  down  to  a  basal  fact  or  a  foundation  truth. 
We  say  nothing  of  the  necessity  of  preparation  for  the  ordinary 
callings  of  everyday  life.  \Ye  conduct  the  argument  upon  a 
higher  plane.  Every  Christian  should  make  the  most  of  the  edu- 
cational advantages  with  which  he  is  favored.  Religion  means 
consecration,  and  the  consecration  that  leaves  out  of  account  the 
noblest  faculties  of  our  being  and  the  highest  culture  of  those 


THE   DUTY   OF   THE    PASTOR.  113 

faculties  is  worthless  and  deceptive.  And  what  is  true  of  the  hum-  EDWARDS. 
blest  Christian  applies  with  peculiar  force  to  the  minister.  He  is 
to  influence  minds  upon  the  largest  scale,  and  needs  the  mental 
discipline  equal  to  the  task.  He  is  also  to  shape  the  activities 
and  the  policy  of  the  Church  in  her  manifold  development,  and  is 
to  see  that  none  of  her  interests  suffer  because  of  his  lack  or  of  his 
supineness.  Least  of  all  can  he  be  indifferent  to  the  claims  of 
missions.  He  must  understand  their  meaning.  He  must  know 
the  times  and  the  possibilities  of  good  which  they  afford.  He  must 
possess  a  conscience  made  responsive  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the 
ignorance  and  sin  of  the  regions  beyond,  and  that  impels  to  the 
improvement  of  opportunities  presented  with  every  increase  of 
light  and  with  every  removal  of  obstacles.  Until  the  minister,  at 
all  of  these  points,  is  fully  awake  and  alive,  the  hope  of  a  redeemed 
and  enfranchised  humanity,  which  so  long  has  cheered  the  heart 
of  the  Church,  will  be  indefinitely  delayed  in  realization. 

Do  we  mean  to  advocate  a  special  standard  of  literary  excel- 
lence and  of  useful  information  as  an  indispensable  qualification 
for  entrance  into  the  Christian  ministry?  The  Methodist  Church 
has  never  taken  so  questionable  a  position.  May  she  never  take 
it !  Her  glory  is  that  she  receives  all  whose  "gifts  and  graces''  preparation 
capacitate  them  for  usefulness,  and  assigns  them  to  those  spheres  the  teacher 
to  which  they  are  adapted,  and  conquers  through  their  earnest 
work  and  devotion  to  duty.  Yet  may  she  never  by  word  or  act  dis- 
parage learning  or  fail  to  supply  those  who  seek  admission  to  her 
pulpits  with  the  best  scholastic  advantages  and  the  means  for  the 
most  thorough  equipment  in  all  departments  of  ministerial  toil ! 
We  repeat,  then,  that  preparation  is  necessary  for  successful  work, 
a  special  preparation  for  special  work,  a  knowledge  of  missions  for 
earnest,  honest,  fruitful  missionary  work. 

The  minister  need  not  go  far  for  a  good  measure  of  equipment 
for  leadership  in  the  particular  service  to  which  attention  is  di- 
rected in  this  paper.  If  he  opens  the  Bible  and  studies  it,  he  will 
be  at  no  loss  to  know  what  God's  thought  is  in  reference  to  the 
enlightenment  and  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  It  is  written 
upon  every  page  of  inspiration  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and 
is  incorporated  into  the  very  structure  of  the  Church.  The  hu- 
man race  is  lost  in  the  transgression  of  Adam.  Its  redemption  is 
anticipated  in  the  promise  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise 
the  serpent's  head.  The  law  is  given  upon  Sinai,  and  in  that  law 
8 


114  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


EDWARDS. 


provision  is  made  for  the  ingathering  of  proselytes.  The  proph- 
ets gazing  down  the  long  vista  of  years  see  a  night,  and  afterwards 
a  morning,  brightening  and  broadening  and  filling  with  splendor, 
as  a  myriad  of  suns,  the  whole  heaven  of  the  future.  And  then 
Christ  appears,  and  when  his  life  work  is  done,  and  the  agony  of 
Gethsemane  is  past,  and  the  gloom  of  Calvary  has  burst  into  glo- 
rious day,  and  the  sepulcher  has  given  back  his  sacred  form  be- 
cause he  could  riot  be  bound  of  death,  pausing  for  a  moment  upon 
the  summit  of  Olivet,  with  his  disciples  around  him  and  the  open 
spaces  above  crowded  with  "invisible  but  adoring  angels,"  he  de- 
clares in  attestation  of  the  completeness  of  !his  triumph  :  "All  pow- 
er is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth."  And  then  he  im- 
mediately commands :  "Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
Purpose  of  the  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
gospel.  I  have  commanded  you :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 

the  end  of  the  world."  Is  still  further  testimony  from  the  Book 
necessary?  See  Peter  laboring  through  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cap- 
padocia,  Asia,  Bithynia.  Turn  to  Paul.  First,  hear  his  words  :  "I 
am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks,  and  to  the  Barbarians  ;  both  to  the 
wise,  and  to  the  unwise."  Secondly,  witness  his  labors  :  ''So  that 
from  Jerusalem,  and  round  about  unto  Illyricum,  I  have  fully 
preached  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Yea,  so  I  have  strived  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  where  Christ  was  named,  lest  I  should  build  upon 
another  man's  foundation :  but  as  it  is  written,  To  whom  he  was 
not  spoken  of,  they  shall  see ;  and  they  that  have  not  heard  shall 
understand." 

Manifestly  God's  thought  is :  "The  world  for  Christ."  The 
minister  is  to  make  this  same  thought  his  own. 

Again,  if  the  minister  would  know  the  times  and  their  weight  of 
responsibility,  he  is  only  to  be  observant  and  to  familiarize  him- 
self with  the  secular  and  religious  literature  of  the  day.  Never 
was  there  an  age  like  this  in  which  we  live.  Science  is  forging 
ahead  with  irresistible  momentum.  New  discoveries  are  made; 
new  principles  are  brought  to  light;  new  realms  of  thought,  which 
the  boldest  explorers  have  failed  to  reach, are  open  to  investiga- 
tion. Society  throws  off  her  grosser  sins  and  puts  on  garments 
of  fairer  decency  and  of  greater  respectability.  Governments  are 
growing  into  a  juster  conception  of  the  rights  of  men,  and  of  the 
mutual  dependence  of  nations,  and  of  the  duty  of  a  generous  en- 


THE   DUTY    OF   THE    PASTOR.  115 

couragement  to  all  that  is  strong  and  helpful  in  the  ongoing  of  the  EDWARDS- 
world.  And  beyond  the  impetuous  rush  in  temporal  affairs,  the 
Church  is  girding  herself  for  a  more  determined  effort  to  drive  Thc 
back  the  darkness  and  let  in  the  light,  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  upon  the  habitation  of  man.  It  is  as 
though  some  careering  simoom  or  strange  conjunction  of  stars 
stirred  the  ocean  of  thought  to  its  profoundest  depths  and  threw 
the  world  into  the  wildest  uproar.  Let  the  minister  understand 
these  facts — especially  what  the  Church  is  doing  and  can  do  for 
her  exalted  and  glorified  Lord.  This  knowledge  is  equipment  and 
preparation  for  leadership.  Let  him  know  that  the  prayer,  so 
long  offered,  for  the  opening  of  effectual  doors  of  usefulness  in 
foreign  fields  is  already  answered,  that  the  doors  are  "lifted  off 
their  hinges,"  and  that  the  world  is  everywhere  accessible  to  the 
missionary.  Let  him  know  that  facilities  for  travel  are  multiplied 
even  in  darkest  paganism;  that  the  press  is  publishing  the  Bible 
in  all  languages,  and  is  preparing  wholesome  religious  reading 
for  men  in  the  diversified  conditions  of  human  fortune  ;  that  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  heathens  bow,  to-day,  submissively  to  the  cross, 
and  that  more  than  four  millions  are  brought  under  the  restrain- 
ing and  corrective  influence  of  Christian  thought;  and  that  with 
the  ever-increasing  army  of  workers  from  abroad  and  of  workers 
raised  up  at  home  the  outlook  for  the  future  is  in  every  way  hope- 
ful and  inspiring. 

The  time  was  when  ignorance  of  missions  and  of  their  work 
might,  in  a  measure,  have  been  excused ;  the  time  is  when  this  ig- 
norance is  not  only  excusable,  but  is  criminal.  The  knowledge 
of  the  missionary  movement,  scarcely  a  century  old,  yet  with  a  his- 
tory that  reads  like  a  romance,  can  be  secured  for  the  paltry  out- 
lav  of  a  few  dollars  in  religious  papers  and  periodicals. 

But  the  minister  may  know  God's  thought  of  missions,  and  may 
know  the  times  and  their  splendid  possibilities  for  good,  and  yet  workt 
not  understand  the  subject  under  consideration  as  he  ought  to  un- 
derstand it.  He  may  be  out  of  sympathy  with  it.  This  want  of 
sympathy  can  be  overcome  only  by  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit, 
which  again  is  to  say  only  through  prayer  and  consecration.  \Ye 
see  God  and  God's  truth  alone  in  God's  own  light. 

Another  advance.  The  equipment  for  which  we  plead  is  not 
only  a  preparation  for  leadership;  it  incites  and  impels  to  its  as- 
sumption. The  minister,  properly  educated  and  informed,  readily 


Il6  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

EDWARDS.  perceives  the  things  that  ought  to  be  done,  knows  how  they  ought 
to  be  done,  and  takes  hold  of  affairs  with  a  steadier  and  stronger 
hand.  He  is  forward  to  talk  about  missions  in  pastoral  visitation. 
He  is  not  slow  or  unwilling  to  urge  their  claims  to  the  free  and 
liberal  support  of  the  Church.  He  goes  into  the  Sabbath  school 
and  awakens  the  interest  of  children  in  the  conversion  of  the  hea- 
then. He  recognizes  the  value  of  societies,  and  forms  them  and 
utilizes  them  in  the  consummation  of  his  purposes.  Indeed, 
wherever  great  issues  are  at  stake,  temporal  or  spiritual,  the  or- 
ganization is  demanded.  It  unitizes  the  forces.  It  brings  the 
people  more  immediately  and  directly  under  the  control  of  the 
leader.  In  addition,  it  is  the  best  means  for  enlisting  the  fullest 

The  minister  strength  of  manhood  and  of  womanhood,  not  simply,  as  already 
lead.  intimated,  because  there  is  an  increase  of  power  with  the  increase 
of  the  units  of  power,  but  upon  the  broader  principle  that  individ- 
ual life  is  quickened  and  intensified  when  brought  into  associa- 
tion with  other  life.  We  see  more,  we  feel  more,  we  are  prepared 
to  do  more  when  in  society  than  when  alone.  So  individuals  are 
wrought  up  to  the  wildest  enthusiasm  when  collected  in  masses 
under  the  play  of  social  instincts.  So  the  orator  is  often  indebted 
to  his  audience  for  his  success,  "the  brilliant  and  responsive 
throng"  imparting  strength  to  feeling  and  vividness  to  concep- 
tion. So  the  soldier,  by  the  touch  of  an  elbow  or  the  voice  of  a 
comrade,  is  nerved  for  the  brave  and  heroic  assault  upon  the  em- 
battled line.  Patrick  Henry,  perchance,  had  lived  and  died  un- 
known but  for  the  mighty  throes  of  a  revolution  which  shook  the 
continent  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia.  Waterloo  had  never 
been  won  by  England  but  for  the  intrepid  courage  of  the  Iron 
Duke,  inspiring  his  soldiery  to  valiant  deeds.  Rob  the  world  of 
this  great  mystery  of  our  being,  the  interchange  of  feeling,  and 
you  despoil  it  of  how  much  of  its  splendor !  The  hand  that  now 
marks  out  the  hour  of  day  in  the  upward  ascent  of  the  sun  of  civil- 
ization will  go  back  many  degrees  upon  the  dial  plate  of  time.  The 
wise  pastor  wi'I  not  overlook  this  element  of  power,  but  will  em- 
brace it,  and  make  it  tributary  to  the  success  of  the  missionary  en- 
terprise. 

Once  more.  The  pastor,  equipped  for  his  work,  will  not  be  in- 
different to  the  reflex  action  of  missionary  work  upon  the  Church 
at  home.  The  benefit  conferred  upon  another  is  a  benefit  for  our- 
selves. The  effort  keeps  religious  life  from  stagnation  and  de- 


METHODISM    AND    MODERN    MISSIONS.  117 

cay.     Nay,  it  not  only  preserves  the  life  from  decay,  but  augments   EDWARDS- 
its  power.     The  faith  becomes  stronger,  the  hope  brighter,  the 
love  more  abundant.     We  need  not  fear  that  the  constant  tax  , 

Benefit  to  the 
upon  Christian  principle  will  diminish  its  resources.  The  more  we   church. 

do  for  others,  the  larger  the  outlay  of  our  talents  in  the  various 
spheres  of  thought,  the  greater  the  amount  of  comfort  and  of 
strength  we  receive  in  return.  The  increase  of  spiritual  capital 
through  work  for  others,  its  decline  through  selfish  indolence,  is 
one  of  the  external  paradoxes  of  God's  moral  government. 
Would  that  the  Church  were  fully  alive  to  this  truth  ! 

The  evening  of  the  world  is  upon  us.  The  sun  hastens  to  its 
setting.  We  climb  the  hilltops  to  which  we  have  been  conducted, 
and,  gazing  out  into  the  future,  are  surprised  at  the  facilities  at  our 
command  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  and  for  the  ushering 
in  of  the  latter-day  glory  of  the  Church  when  the  boldest  dreams 
of  the  prophet  shall  be  realized  in  spiritual  awakenings  and  in  the 
brotherhood  of  men,  and  in  all  of  the  sweet  ministrations  of 
Christian  civilization. 

It  will  not  be  long,  under  the  guidance  of  faithful  leaders,  backed 
by  a  zealous  Church,  before  swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plow- 
shares, and  the  wolf  shall  lie  down  with  the  child,  and  tyranny  and 
oppression  shall  be  banished  from  the  family  of  nations.  God 
speed  the  day ! 


METHODISM  AND  MODERN  MISSIONS. 

REV.  T.  H.  PRITCI1ETT,  D.D. 

THE  coincidence  in  the  rise  of  these  two  spiritual  forces  of  the 
nineteenth  century  is  a  marked  matter  of  history,  and  the  con- 
sideration of  its  providential  significance  is  well  worth  a  place  in 
the  discussions  of  this  Conference.  Both  are  classed  as  revivals  : 
the  first,  Methodism,  as  a  revival  of  the  doctrines,  the  expe- 
riences, the  economies  of  primitive  Christianity;  the  second, 
modern  missions,  as  a  revival  of  the  inspired  purpose  to  make 
these  things  world-wide  by  spreading  the  gospel.  The  fact  that 
seventeen  hundred  years  after  Pentecost,  the  attestation  given  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  a  resurrected  and  reigning  Christ,  it  was  neces- 


Il8  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

sary  to  reproduce  its  lessons  in  human  consciousness,  and  to  re- 
new the  commission  to  carry  them  everywhere,  challenges  earnest 
thought  along  at  least  three  lines  :  (a)  Under  what  conditions  were 
these  two  forces,  so  vigorous  and  so  interdependent  in  the  early 
Church,  so  nearly  lost  out  of  the  world?  (b]  By  what  steps  do  we 
trace  their  return  to  place  and  power?  (c)  What  lessons  for  the 
incoming  century  do  these  answers  teach  us? 

Christianity  in  its  most  exhaustive  sense  is  God's  revelation  of 
himself  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  contains  that  reconciliation  of  the 
world  to  himself  which  he  made  in  Christ.  Its  initial  fact  is  a  new 
man;  its  culminating  event  is  a  new  world.  The  one  is  a  token 
and  prophecy  of  the  other.  Between  them,  as  between  points  of 
departure  and  destination,  lie  three  things :  (a)  Christ's  media- 
torial kingdom :  "For  he  must  reign  until  he  hath  put  all  ene- 
mies under  his  feet."  (b)  The  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit : 
"He  shall  convict  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment."  (c)  The  mission  of  the  Church:  "On  this  rock  will 
I  build  my  church;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it."  This  triple  alliance  puts  sin's  destruction  and  the  world's 
final  restoration  beyond  a  contingency,  however  indefinitely  the 
human  element  in  the  Church  may  postpone  their  accomplish- 
ment. The  divine  expedients  are  exhanstless :  If  one  man  or 
generation  or  race  disappoints  him,  he  raises  up  another.  The 
Christ  of  prophecy  was  doubtless  long  delayed  in  his  coming  by 
the  stubborn  intractableness  of  those  through  whom  the  blessing- 
was  to  come  to  the  world ;  nevertheless  he  came,  not  because  the 
Church  or  the  world  was  ready  for  his  coming,  as  we  often  hear 
— from  a  human  point  of  view  it  was  never  more  unready — but  he 
came  because  the  salvation  of  the  Church  and  the  hope  of  the 
world  demanded  it.  He  came  suddenly  to  his  temple,  and  his 
coming  was  like  refining  fire,  and  like  fuller's  soap.  So  his  sec- 
ond coming  has  been  delayed  by  the  prayerlessness,  the  faith- 
lessness, the  covetousness  of  those  in  whom  he  has  trusted.  It 
may  still  be  long  delayed,  but  he  will  surely  come.  It  may  be  that 
the  nominal  Church  and  the  world  will  be  no  nearer  prepared  to 
receive  him  than  before.  Nevertheless  he  shall  come,  and,  will- 
ingly or  unwillingly,  "every  knee  shall  bow  to  him  .  .  .  and 
every  tongue  shall  confess  that  he  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father." 

Men  have  not  been  slow  to  make  and  recognize  a  distinction 


METHODISM    AND    MODERN    MISSIONS. 


between  the  real  and  the  nominal  in  Christianity  from  the  be- 
ginning;  but  God  only  has  always  and  everywhere  marked  the 
difference.  Before  the  worldly-wise  thought  its  religion  worth 
counterfeiting,  Christianity  found  her  all-sufficient  opportunity 
in  the  command  and  promise  of  her  Head,  her  inspiration  in  the 
call  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  was  no  waiting  for  occasion,  no 
consulting  of  omens,  no  weighing  of  conditions.  So  Paul  and 
Barnabas  went  forth  from  Antioch.  They  were  Christ's  ambas- 
sadors ;  they  were  the  Church's  messengers;  and,  despite  the 
bigoted  pharisaism  of  the  Jew,  despite  the  cultured  rationalism 
of  the  Greek,  despite  the  gross  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the 
barbarian,  despite  the  cruel  persecution  and  proscription  of  the 
Roman,  the  standard  of  the  cross  was  soon  planted  in  every 
province  of  the  empire  of  the  Caesars.  Early  in  the  second  cen- 
tury Justin  Martyr  wrote  :  "There  is  not  a  nation,  Greek  or  bar- 
barian, among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgivings  are  not  offered 
to  the  Father  and  Creator  in  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus." 
Tertullian,  about  the  middle  of  the  same  century,  wrote  :  "Though 
of  yesterday,  we  have  filled  every  sphere  of  life  —  the  exchange, 
the  camp,  the  populace,  the  palace,  the  forum."  Persecution, 
dire  and  continuous,  but  lengthened  her  cords  and  strengthened 
her  stakes.  Early  in  the  fourth  century,  however,  her  persecu- 
tor affected  to  become  her  patron.  Patron?  Ominous  the 
name,  fatal  the  relationship,  and  dire  the  consequences  that  fol- 
lowed its  consummation. 

Persecution  the  Church  cannot  only  abide  but  flourish  under  ; 
but  the  patronage  of  the  world,  in  any  of  its  forms,  she  can  never 
endure.  It  is  the  bane  of  her  peace,  the  Delilah  of  her  power. 
Will  the  Church  never  learn  this  lesson,  so  often  repeated  by  our 
Lord,  so  often  verified  in  his  dealings  with  his  people?  "Blessed 
are  ye,  when  men  shall  revile  you,  and  persecute  you,  and 
shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for  my  sake:"  but 
"woe  unto  you,  when  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you  :"  "the  world 
will  love  its  own  ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have 
chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you  ;" 
"know  ye  not  that  the  friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with 
God  ?  whosoever  therefore  will  be  the  friend  of  the  world  is  the 
enemy  of  God  :  "ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon."  The  most 
charitable  tiling  that  can  be  said  of  a  patronized  Church,  whether 
the  patron  be  Caesar  or  mammon  or  "society,"  is  that  it  is  a  nominal 


PRITCHETT- 


I2O 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


PRITCHETT. 


The  true  and 
false. 


Value  of  per- 
secution. 


Church ;  to  which  it  is  only  necessary  to  add  the  time  element  to 
make  it  a  corrupt,  an  apostate  Church.  From  the  consequences 
of  that  unholy  concubinage  instituted  by  Constantine,  Christian- 
ity has  not  escaped  even  until  now.  From  that  day  the  Church 
began  her  contest  for  supremacy  with  the  potentates  and  powers 
of  earth.  There  is  scarcely  a  page  of  history  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  on  which  she  does  not  figure  conspicuously,  not  as  a 
representative  of  the  lowly  Nazerene,  but  of  the  haughty  primate 
of  Rome ;  not  as  the  exponent  of  the  gospel  of  peace  and  good 
will  among  men,  but  as  the  instigator  of  persecution,  cruelty,  and 
bloodshed.  Meantime  the  real  Church  witnessed  for  her  Lord 
chiefly  with  the  blood  of  her  martyrs,  her  voice  being  heard  be- 
yond the  fastnesses  of  her  mountain  retreats  only  now  and  then 
through  such  unconquerable  spirits  as  Jerome  of  Prague,  Huss 
of  Bohemia,  and  Wycliffe  of  England.  She  found  her  opportu- 
nity in  the  high  and  holy  privilege  of  dying  for  her  Master's  sake, 
and  of  proving  to  the  generations  that  were  to  come  after  that 
"the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church."  Histo- 
rians, philosophers,  theologians,  all  have  wrestled  with  the  prob- 
lem, but  God  only  knows  where  and  when,  or  how  and  by  whom 
the  seed  was  sown  that  sprang  up  and  grew  and  ripened  into  the 
harvest  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Call  it  what  you  will — reforma- 
tion, revolution,  restoration — one  thing  is  certain  about  it — that  is, 
Luther  and  his  compeers  were  just  as  surely  reapers  from  the 
centuries  of  prayers  and  tears  and  blood  as  we  are  gleaners 
among  the  sheaves  which  they  left  in  the  field.  In  this  mighty 
upheaval,  which  shook  the  nations  of  Europe  from  center  to  cir- 
cumference, two  great  laws  peculiar  to  God's  government  of  the 
world  are  elucidated : 

i.  God  is  never  in  haste  to  put  out  the  fires  of  persecution 
kindled  against  his  people,  or  to  bring  to  judgment  the  doer  of 
evil  things.  He  can  afford  to  allow  the  devil  and  bad  men  to  do 
their  worst,  his  servants  can  afford  it — for  of  their  worst  it  is  his 
prerogative  to  conquer  his  own  highest  glory  and  his  servants' 
highest  good.  He  gives  heed  to  neither  the  skeptical  nor  the  de- 
spairing cry:  ''Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?"  "A  thou- 
sand years  are  in  his  sight  as  one  day,  and  one  day  as  a  thousand 
years,"  yet  he  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promises.  Let  his  ene- 
mies know  that  for  every  day  of  seeming  triumph  on  their  part  he 
will  recompense  his  saints  a  thousand  vears. 


METHODISM    AND    MODERN    MISSIONS.  121 

2.  That  it  is  neither  by  might  nor  power — as  men  estimate  PRITCHETT. 
them — but  by  his  Spirit  that  he  brings  things  to  pass.  He  makes 
no  entangling  alliances  with  persons  or  powers,  nor  sanctions  any 
made  by  the  people.  He  allows  no  instrument  of  his  hand  to  re- 
ply against  him,  saying:  "I  have  done  it."  He  chooses  weak 
things  to  confound  the  mighty,  "yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to 
bring  to  naught  things  that  are." 

For  a  thousand  years  Rome  had  insulted  heaven  by  her  blas- 
phemous pretensions,  demoralized  universal  government  by  her 
unauthorized  interference,  debauched  the  people  by  her  false 
teachings  and  foul  practices ;  in  short,  had  made  herself  the  syno- 
nym of  all  that  is  vile  and  abominable  in  the  earth.  She  had  come 
to  regard  herself  as  invincible  in  sin.  Human  assailants,  one 
after  another,  in  their  efforts  to  cast  her  down,  had  been  broken 
at  her  feet.  First,  temporal  princes,  notably  the  powerful  house 
of  Hohenstaufen,  tried  to  humble  and  reform  her;  with  what  re- 
sult, let  the  humiliating  conditions  of  pardon  and  restoration 
granted  by  Hildebrancl  to  the  warlike  Henry  IV.  testify.  Next, 
men  of  genius  and  learning  entered  their  protest  against  the 
papacy,  and  boldly  called  for  the  reestablishment  of  the  primitive 
order  of  the  Church  ;  Dante,  the  father  of  Italian  poetry,  Petrarch, 
the  genius  of  his  age,  Laurentius  Valla,  one  of  the  most  learned  ] 

°  at  rc±omia- 

men  of  his  time,  followed  by  a  host  of  other  poets  and  learned  tion. 
men  and  philosophers,  threw  the  whole  force  of  their  personal 
and  professional  power  against  the  common  enemy,  but  in  vain. 
"Leo  X.  had  but  to  enlist  among  the  supporters  and  satellites  of 
his  court,  literature,  poetry,  science,  and  art;  and  all  these  came, 
humbly  kissing  the  feet  of  a  power  that  in  their  boasted  infancy 
they  had  tried  to  destroy." 

Last  of  all,  the  Church  herself  essayed  the  task  of  her  own  refor- 
mation. The  council  of  Constance,  one  of  the  most  imposing  as- 
semblages the  world  ever  saw,  was  called  ;  twenty-six  princes, 
one  hundred  and  forty  counts,  more  than  a  score  of  cardinals,  sev- 
en patriarchs,  twenty  archbishops,  ninety-one  bishops,  six  hun- 
dred prelates  and  doctors,  and  four  thousand  priests  helped  to 
constitute  it.  Sigismund,  the  emperor,  with  a  retinue  of  one  thou- 
sand courtiers,  presided.  It  protracted  its  session  four  years.  It 
did  five  things :  (a)  It  asserted  its  own  supremacy ;  (&)  it  unmade 
three  warring  popes  :  (r)  it  condemned  both  the  books  and  the 
bodies  of  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  to  be  burned;  (d)  it 


122  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

PRITCHETT.  constituted  a  representative  commission  of  sweeping  reform ;  (ey 
it  made  Colonna  pope  after  he  had  sworn  that  the  council  should 
continue  till  the  contemplated  reform  was  consummated;  but 
scarcely  had  the  last  rite  that  made  Colonna  Martin  V.,  pope  of 
Rome,  been  performed,  when  the  newly  made  potentate,  head  of 
the  Church  and  ex  officio  king  of  kings,  proclaimed :  "The  coun- 
cil is  at  an  end !"  Protest  was  vain.  It  was  again  demonstrated 
that,  in  order  to  humble  Rome  and  correct  her  abuses,  something 
above  and  beyond  the  combined  power  of  Church  and  school  and 
state  was  necessary.  In  God's  own  time  (i.  e.,  when  Rome's  cup 
of  iniquity  was  full),  in  God's  own  way  (i.  e.,  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  his  little  ones,  which  had  been  accumulating  for  ages), 
by  God's  own  means  (i.  c.,  a  man  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  reckless  of  all  else  except  the  maintenance  of  the  truth),  that 
something  came.  Passing  by  a  score  of  true  and  learned  and 
valiant  men  whom  human  wisdom  would  have  chosen  as  leaders, 
God's  reform-;  God  laid  his  hand  on  the  poor  boy  of  Eisleben,  the  pious  monk 
er-  of  Erfurt,  the  bold  preacher  of  Wittenberg,  the  unconquerable 

prisoner  of  Worms,  Martin  Luther,  and  through  him  sent  out  a 
voice  that  shattered  the  very  foundations  of  Rome,  penetrated 
the  strongholds  of  tyranny  and  superstition  throughout  Christen- 
dom, and  has  come  echoing  and  reechoing  clown  the  centuries 
until  now.  It  proclaimed  an  open  Bible,  an  unshackled  con- 
science, and  a  free  and  full  salvation  by  grace  through  faith.  Had 
restored  Christianity  been  shut  up  to  the  limits  and  conditions  of 
European  civilization  as  it  then  was,  the  results  would  doubtless 
have  been  far  different.  In  Germany,  besides  the  deadly  though 
broken  opposition  of  Rome,  reenforced  by  the  relentless  pro- 
scription of  the  emperors,  it  became  the  victim  of  warring  politi- 
cal factions,  of  strifes  and  divisions  among  its  votaries.  In  Great 
Britain,  the  most  hopeful  field  for  its  success,  it  was  handicapped 
for  more  than  two  centuries  by  its  unfortunate  alliance  \vith  the 
turbulent,  tyrannical,  and  treacherous  dynasties  of  Tudor  and 
Stuart ;  its  hidden  life  being  revealed  only  in  the  testimony  of 
its  martyrs,  and  in  such  occasional  events  as  the  Prayer  Book  of 
Edward  VI. ,  the  English  Bible  of  James  I.,  and  the  interjected 
rule  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 

He  who  had  started  his  truth  on  its  new  career,  however,  knew 
how  to  prepare  for  it  an  ampler  field  than  that  furnished  by  either 
Germanv  or  England,  or  by  both.  He  knew  how  to  wing  it  for 


METHODISM    AND    MODERN    MISSIONS. 


123 


its  flight,  and  how  to  guide  it  to  its  destination.  Almost  simul- 
taneous with  the  reformation  came  the  general  use  of  the  print- 
er's art,  the  successful  employment  of  the  mariner's  compass,  the 
opening  up  of  a  new  world.  American  Christianity,  the  grand- 
child of  the  reformation,  the  child  of  providence,  the  heir  of  des- 
tiny, began  its  career  just  one  hundred  years  after  the  Diet  of 
Wornrs.  Its  elements  (the  Puritan,  the  Huguenot,  the  Presby- 
terian, the  Quaker — even  the  Episcopalian  and  the  Catholic)  were 
forged  in  fires  incident  to  the  Reformation.  One  hundred 
years  later,  when  America  herself,  in  her  struggle  to  escape  her 
political  toils,  had  taken  to  her  bosom  the  viperous  brood  of 
French  infidelity,  when  heart  and  home,  Church  and  school  and 
forum,  were  being  vitiated  by  the  grossest  and  foulest  of  its  prog- 
eny, God  reenforced  American  Christianity  with  Methodism. 
It  brought  just  what  was  needed  for  the  exigency :  a  free  and  full 
gospel,  a  personal  divine  power  in  conversion,  an  experience  veri- 
fying both  the  truth  of  the  one  and  the  fact  of  the  other,  an  apos- 
tolic plan  of  evangelism,  that  proposed  to  go  everywhere  and  to 
reach  everybody  with  its  message.  For  fifty  years  it  had  been 
leavening  England,  and  just  at  this  time  was  compelling  recog- 
nition as  a  mighty  spiritual  force,  moving  through  three  distinct 
yet  confluent  streams — viz.,  Mr.  Wesley's  Societies,  the  Calvin- 
istic  Methodists,  the  Evangelical  Church  party.  Through  the 
first  and  last  of  these  it  has,  during  the  century  now  just  closed, 
made  England  the  most  Christian  nation  in  Christendom  and 
the  most  potent  factor  in  evangelizing  the  world. 

In  America  Methodism  began  its  career  as  a  Church  organiza- 
tion sixteen  years  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with 
eighty-three  preachers  and  fifteen  thousand  members.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  had  two  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  preachers  and  sixty-five  thousand  members.  At 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  these  had  grown  to  more  than 
thirty  thousand  preachers  and  nearly  six  million  members.  The 
percentage  of  increase  had  been  nine  thousand.  The  annual  av- 
erage gain  in  preachers  had  been  four  hundred:  the  annual  aver- 
age gain  in  members  sixty  thousand.  On  all  material  lines  ex- 
pansion had  fully  kept  pace  with  the  membership,  and  the  more 
than  seventy-five  thousand  Churches  and  parsonages,  valued  at 
more  than  $350,000,000,  to  say  nothing  of  universities,  colleges. 
schools,  orphanages,  and  hospitals,  as  compared  with  the  little 


PRITCHETT. 


A  field  pre 
pared. 


Methodise 
America. 


124  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


PRJTCHETT. 


log  house  in  Maryland,  or  the  sail  loft  in  New  York,  whence  de- 
parture was  taken  in  the  beginning,  seem  as  much  a  miracle  as 
the  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  under  the  blessing  of 
the  Man  of  Galilee.  Nor  did  these  wonderful  results  come  by  im- 
migration, nor  by  proselytism,  nor  by  artful  manipulation,  nor  by 
prestige  of  any  sort.  Methodism  sought  the  people  where  they 
were  to  be  found,  identified  itself  with  their  interests  without  par- 
tiality, preached  the  gospel  in  its  fullness  and  power,  watched 
over  the  souls  God  gave  into  its  keeping,  and  so  grew  and  pros- 
pered. Nor  has  the  ecclesiastical  growth  indicated  been  the 
only  striking  evidence  of  the  providential  origin  and  development 
of  Methodism.  From  its  liberality  of  spirit  and  doctrine  and 
practice  has  gone  forth  an  influence  that  has  revolutionized  the 
animus,  the  creeds,  the  comity  of  the  Churches.  From  its  altars 
has  gone  into  other  communions  a  constant  stream  of  converts, 
carrying  new  life  and  enlarged  views  of  the  plan  of  salvation  ;  from 
its  pulpits  scores  and  hundreds  have  gone  to  replenish  the  scant 
ministerial  supply  of  other  denominations ;  from  its  commanding 
influence  in  Protestantism  to-day  largely  comes  the  ability  to  say, 
"Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell 
together  in  unity." 

The  mission  revival  which  found  its  birth  at  the  same  time  and 
under  the  same  conditions  with  that  of  Methodism  kept  even  step 
with  its  compeer  throughout  the  nineteenth  century.     At  the  be- 
ginning there  were  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  feeble  societies  of 
Missions. 

any  sort  engaged  in  any  way  in  the  effort  to  send  the  gospel  into 
the  regions  beyond;  at  the  close  there  were  two  hundred  and 
forty-nine  societies  engaged  directly  and  wholly  in  the  work  of 
foreign  missions  ;  also  ninety-eight  other  societies  cooperating  or 
aiding  in  this  work  ;  besides  one  hundred  and  two  still  other  socie- 
ties engaged  in  some  special  department  of  the  same  work ;  aggre- 
gating five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  societies,  employing  fifteen 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  missionaries,  with  seventy-seven 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  native  helpers,  and  having 
eleven  thousand  and  thirty-nine  organized  Churches,  one  million 
three  hundred  and  seventeen  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  communicants,  and  an  annual  income  of  nearly  $20,000,000. 
Finally,  standing  in  the  presence  of  this  double  array  of  facts, 
gathered  for  the  express  purpose  of  studying  them,  what  are  some 
of  the  lessons  that  we  are  to  carrv  from  this  interview,  from  this 


METHODISM    AND    MODERN    MISSIONS.  125 

Conference,  back  to  our  homes  and  into  our  future  work  for  the  r  :ITCHETT- 
Master?  In  this  materialistic,  this  utilitarian  age  we  hear  a 
great  deal  about  new  opportunities  and  new  responsibilities.  May 
we  not  in  this  presence  relearn  the  old  and  oft-repeated  lesson 
that  the  one  world-wide  and  ever  recurring  opportunity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  found  in  the  proclamation  of  her  Head,  "All 
power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  is  given  into  my  hands ;  as  my  Fa- 
ther hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you;"  that  her  one  supreme  re- 
sponsibility, unlimited,  and  unredeemed  while  one  soul  still  waits 
for  the  message,  is  found  in  the  command,  "Go  preach  my  gospel 
to  every  creature."  Shall  we  not  henceforth,  always,  everywhere  The  ontlook 
carry  this  double  law  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  our  minds  :  (a)  Faith 
in  his  promises  and  power,  obedience  to  his  call  and  command, 
mean  victory  in  every  conflict  with  every  foe  ;  (b]  that  doubt  and 
disobedience  just  as  surely  mean  defeat?  Shall  we  not  go  into 
the  twentieth  century  with  a  clearer  conception  of  the  meaning 
and  correlation  of  these  utterances  of  our  divine  Lord :  "The 
field  is  the  \vorld  ;  the  seed  is  the  word  of  God  :  the  sower  soweth 
the  word;  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world,"  and  a  profounder 
realization  of  our  duty  as  wrapped  up  in  them? 

Is  it  not  time  that  Protestant  Christian  brotherhood  be  given 
such  a  practical,  appreciable  form,  at  least  in  our  mission  fields, 
that  it  may  appear  among  the  heathen  that  the  prayer  of  our  di- 
vine Lord  was  not  in  vain  :  "That  they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou 
Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee ;  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us, 
that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me?"  And  is  it 
not  time  that  our  Methodism  made  a  large  contribution  to  this 
answer? 

Shall  we  not  carry  from  this  Conference  a  clearer  conception, 
a  deeper  conviction  of  the  fact  that  our  interest,  as  individuals  and 
as  a  Church  in  Christ's  kingdom  now,  and  our  final  award  in  that 
kingdom  hereafter,  is  and  will  be  measured  by  the  amount  and 
kind  of  service  rendered  our  fellow-men  in  Christ's  name?  Sub- 
sidiary to  this  shall  not  Christ's  proprietorship  in  our  money,  and 
our  stewardship  in  the  use  of  it,  become  more  than  ever  a  living 
and  abiding  presence  with  us? 

"Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in 
us,  unto  him  be  the  glory  in  the  church  by  Christ  Jesus  throughout 
all  ages,  world  without  end.  Amen." 


Section  II. 

EDUCATIONAL   WORK. 


CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION    AND    FOREIGN    MISSION 

WORK. 

REV.    S.    H.    WAINRIGHT. 

THE  place  of  education  in  foreign  mission  work  needs  to  be 
vindicated,  for  among1  believers  some  give  only  a  half-hearted 
support  to  the  school,  others  decline  to  assist  it  at  all,  while  others 
still  challenge  its  right  to  exist.  That  the  school  is  too  expen- 
sive, that  the  immediate  results  in  the  conversion  of  the  young 
are  too  meager,  and  that  education  is  not  a  suitable  or  scriptural 
means  by  which  to  save  the  world  are  some  of  the  objections 
urged;  and  those  who  urge  these  objections  and  who  assail  in- 
stitutions of  learning  as  agencies  of  the  Church  may  possibly 
have  the  correct  view.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  have  a  great 
and  growing  majority  among  Christians  of  the  present  against 
them  ;  they  have  the  practice  of  the  Church  and  the  wisdom  of  its 
leaders,  through  many  centuries,  against  them ;  they  have  the 
patent  influence  of  the  schools  in  great  Christian  enterprises,  in 
important  religious  movements,  and  in  the  Christianization  of 
many  nations  against  them ;  and  they  have  the  fact  of  a  deep 
affinity  between  Christianity  and  learning,  shown  in  the  quick- 
ened and  expanded  intellect,  the  great  number  of  universities  and 
popular  school  systems  of  Christian  origin  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, and  shown  in  the  vital  connection  maintained  between  Chris- 
tianity and  the  mind  of  the  civilized  world,  against  the  view  taken 
by  them.  To  drop  the  school  out  of  Church  work  would  be  a  new 
departure,  an  innovation  on  the  age-long  practice  of  the  past ; 
and  would  imply  that  the  world  no  longer  needed  Christian  edu- 
cation, or  that  the  State,  or  some  other  secular  power,  was  pre- 
pared and  willing  to  impart  it. 

What  answer  will  this  convention  give  to  the  educational  ques- 
tion as  the  members  look  out  upon  the  circle  of  nations  where 


EDUCATION    AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  127 

the  foundations  of  greater  Methodism  are  being  laid,  and  out  into  ^LNRIGHT. 
the  new  century  with  its  splendid  prospects,  its  vast  possibilities, 
its  formidable  problems,  and  its  momentous  interests?  Indeci- 
sion or  irresolution  concerning  a  question  so  vital  ought  not  to 
exist.  Our  minds  should  be  made  up ;  and  if  we  decide  in  favor 
of  the  school,  we  should  be  ready  to  endow  with  our  wealth,  our 
time,  our  brain  energy  and  our  heart  devotion,  the  institutions 
set  up  on  heathen  soil  in  God's  name  and  bearing  over  them  the 
banner  of  Christ's  gospel,  the  ensign  of  progress  and  liberty,  in- 
tellectual, moral,  and  religious.  It  is  important  that  the  members 
of  the  Conference  carry  away  with  them  strengthened  convic- 
tions on  all  great  mission  problems  as  well  as  renewed  or  awak- 
ened enthusiasm,  for  the  latter  cannot  be  sustained  and  pro- 
longed without  the  former. 

On  what  ground,  then,  may  we  find  a  resting  place  for  our 
conviction  in  favor  of  our  mission  schools?    By  reference  (i)  to 
the  doctrinal  faith  of  our  fathers ;  (2)  to  the  injunctions  of  the 
Master;  and  (3)  to  the  conditions,  needs,  and  opportunities  in    C0n3idera_ 
the  mission  fields,  we  may  find,  it  seems  to  me,  a  sufficient  war-   tionu. 
rant,  besides  powerful  m'otives,  for  the  employment  of  education 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

It  appears  to  be  out  of  fashion  in  America  to  allude  to  doc- 
trine, but  missionaries  get  woefully  behind  the  times,  and  I  may 
be  pardoned.  The  Methodist  system  affords  a  truly  rational  basis 
for  educational  effort ;  and  if  we  glory  in  the  consciousness  that 
our  doctrines  are  right,  we  should  at  the  same  time  give  high 
regard  to  the  desire  to  carry  them  out  in  action  to  their  logical 
consequences. 

We  present  our  infants  for  membership  in  the  Church  with 
the  conviction  that  it  is  not  the  Father's  will  that  a  single  one 
of  them  should  perish.  In  the  exhortations,  prayers,  and  vows 
at  their  baptism  we  assume  before  God  a  sponsorship  for  them 
during  their  minority — a  sponsorship  which  involves  for  them  a 
Christian  education.  It  is  inconsistent,  if  not  positively  sinful, 
to  leave  our  children  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  or  to  commit  them 
to  an  education  inimical  to  the  faith  to  which  we  have  conse- 
crated them.  If  we  help  the  Church  on  the  mission  field  in  other 
things,  we  should  help  it  fulfill  this  sacred  obligation  to  the  young. 
It  is  our  boast  that  we  avoid  on  the  one  hand  the  Pelagian  type 
of  theology  which  seeks  the  rescue  of  man  from  sin  by  means  of 
persuasion,  encouragement,  culture,  elevating  influences,  and  in- 


128  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


WAINRIGHT 


citements,  and  by  these  alone  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  the  Neopla- 
tonic  type  which  approaches  perilously  near  the  brink  of  panthe- 
ism and  reduces  man  to  a  mere  nonentity  and  makes  him  passive 
in  salvation  due  to  divine  power  and  to  divine  power  alone.  We 
see  truth  in  both  views.  We  believe  that  God  indeed  supplies 
the  impulse;  that  God  enlivens,  cooperates,  and  sustains;  that 
God  directs  the  efforts  to  final  attainment.  But  we  also  believe 
that  man  is  morally  free  and  responsible;  that  human  probation 
is  not  a  name  but  a  fact ;  that  the  tenure  of  covenant  mercies  is 
humanly  conditional ;  that  God  invites  us  to  cooperation  with  him- 
self, and  expects  us  to  employ  the  faculties  and  resources  given 
to  us  by  him,  and  in  some  sense  holds  us  responsible  for  the 
rescue  of  life,  out  of  possibilities  supplied  by  grace,  actual,  holy, 
complete,  and  perseverant,  unto  the  end.  We  believe,  in  a  word, 
that  by  God's  own  ordination  a  relation  exists  between  human 
agency  and  human  destiny.  What  an  awful  sense  of  responsi- 
bility should  grow  out  of  this  faith  !  If  Methodists,  possessing 
intellects  trained  for  teaching  and  wealth  in  their  power  to  con- 
tribute, view  with  minds  imperturbed  and  hearts  cold  and  indif- 
ferent Asia's  millions  groping  for  the  light  and  our  poorly 
equipped  mission  schools  struggling  to  lead  them,  their  own 
creed  and  profession  will  damn  them  in  the  day  of  judgment,  as 
they  stand  before  God  without  excuse,  confused,  abashed,  and 
overwhelmed  with  sorrow  and  remorse. 

If  we  are  Methodists,  we  are  also  Protestants.  The  reforma- 
tion principle  involves  the  education  of  believers,  which  truth 
Martin  Luther  saw,  and  governed  himself  accordingly.  In  our 
why  we  i  mission  fields,  whether  among  Buddhists  in  Asia  or  Roman 
Catholics  in  Mexico  and  South  America,  there  is  popular  igno- 
rance and  abject  dependence  on  the  priesthood  for  religious 
knowledge.  We  enter  these  fields  and  distribute  the  Scriptures 
and  hold  our  converts  responsible  for  independent  study,  medita- 
tion, and  conviction,  and  for  independent  application  of  moral 
principle,  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience  and  judgment, 
to  all  the  varied  conditions  of  life,  and  for  intelligent  cooperation 
in  all  Church  affairs  and  Christian  effort.  We  lay  a  difficult  but 
noble  task  upon  the  infant  Church.  Have  we  any  right  to  do  so, 
without  providing  a  training  requisite  for  the  performance  of  such 
a  duty?  And  if  we  are  Protestants,  we  are  also  Christians.  Wre 
are  willing  to  recognize  the  authority  and  obey  the  injunction  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  But  here  we  meet  with  the  strongest  ob- 


EDUCATION    AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  129 


WAINK1GIIT. 


j action  to  Christian  schools.  Our  Lord  made  no  mention  of 
schools  in  his  commission  to  the  Church,  nor  did  any  of  his  apos- 
tles speak  of  them.  If  we  rule  out  the  mission  school,  if  we  close 
up  the  Anglo-Chinese  College,  the  Kwansei  Gakuin,  Granbery 
College,  and  other  schools  on  this  ground,  some  other  things 
must  cease  to  exist  with  them.  What  mention  is  made  in  Scrip- 
ture of  Sunday  schools,  the  Epworth  League,  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, the  Board  of  Education,  the  Methodist  Review,  or  the  Pub- 
lishing House?  All  these  great  institutions  of  the  Church  and 
the  Christian  schools  of  the  Church  stand  or  fall  together;  they 
rest  on  the  same  basis,  and  we  believe  that  basis  to  be  a  scrip-  warrant? 
tural  one,  not  expressly  stated  in  so  many  words  but  involved  in 
the  general  commission  of  our  Lord  given  without  instruction 
in  detail  to  the  Church  to  go  forth  and  make  disciples  of  the 
nations,  and  implied  in  the  whole  drift  and  spirit  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament teaching. 

The  actual  conditions  on  mission  fields  strongly  indicate  the 
importance  of  Christian  education.  The  Christian  school  grew 
out  of  the  Christian  movement.  It  came  into  existence  to  meet 
exigencies  of  the  early  Church,  and  was  not  first  deduced  from 
Scripture  or  creed  and  then  established  as  a  pious  duty.  Our 
own  Church  schools  have  had  their  origin  in  the  same  way,  and 
Scripture  was  appealed  to  only  to  justify  their  existence.  But 
while  the  good  fruits  of  Christian  education  are  apparent,  so  com- 
plex is  the  school  and  its  relations  to  society  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  show  by  an  analysis  of  conditions  its  worth  to  the  Church  and 
the  way  it  serves  the  interests  of  the  kingdom. 

In  the  opportunity  the  school  affords,  through  the  daily  per- 
sonal contact  it  secures,  it  is  of  undoubted  value  and  superior  to 
the  station,  as  the  station  is  to  the  circuit.  The  success  of  the 

circuit  is  conditioned  on  and  presupposes  a  generally  diffused    Special  value 
,  ,.„....  .        ,  .    of  the  school, 

knowlege  of  Christianity,  and  consequently  a  certain  degree  of 

self-resource.  But  on  mission  fields  where  the  only  basis  to  work 
upon  is  the  natural  religion  in  the  human  spirit,  as  a  rule  the 
missionary  can  do  the  most  good  who  covers  the  least  ground. 
No  greater  delusion  concerning  missionary  work  exists  than  the 
notion  that  the  first  announcement  of  the  gospel  message  to 
heathen  people  is  received  with  brightened  faces,  glad  hearts,  and 
intelligent  appreciation.  If  any  impression  is  made  at  all,  it  is 
but  a  faint  outline,  vague  and  shadowy,  to  be  filled  up  and  bright- 
ened by  patient  and  reiterated  explanation  and  instruction.  The 


130 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


WAIN  RIGHT. 


A  Christian 
environment. 


Formation  of 
character. 


school  gives  opportunity  for  constant  and  living  contact  and  sup- 
plements instruction  by  articulate  speech  by  complex  presen- 
tation and  suggestion,  reaching  the  consciousness  of  the  learner 
through  the  life  and  activity  of  Christian  teachers,  imaged  forth 
before  him.  The  absence  of  Christian  example  in  home  and  com- 
munity is  somewhat  compensated  for  in  the  school ;  which,  a 
diminutive  world  in  itself,  predominantly  Christian,  supplies  the 
place  at  once  of  family,  Church,  and  society,  and  brings  the 
young,  at  a  period  of  life  most  susceptible  of  impression,  most 
keen  in  discernment,  most  vivid  in  association,  and  most  plastic 
under  influence,  into  an  environment  which  affords  an  object 
lesson  of  that  larger  life,  family,  social,  and  national,  which  suc- 
ceeding generations  of  Christians  must  shape  into  existence. 
Thus  the  school  is  a  means,  and  the  most  effective  one,  of  bring- 
ing Christianity  into  living  touch  with  heathen  life,  and  providing 
the  conditions  necessary  for  the  educative  process,  the  patient  in- 
struction which  is  so  prominent  a  feature  in  Christian  propaga- 
tion among  the  heathen. 

Again,  the  school  is  of  practical  worth  in  the  great  constructive 
work  that  the  infant  Church  must  do  in  the  creation  of  outlets, 
which  do  not  exist  in  heathen  lands,  for  the  expression  of  the  life 
and  emotions  awakened  by  the  gospel.  Christian  life,  while  in- 
dependent of  temporal  limitations  and  circumstances,  must  be 
expressed  through  them.  Our  citizenship  in  the  spiritual  sphere 
does  not  warrant  abstraction  of  self  from  the  secular  life  or  con- 
tempt for  the  temporal  order.  The  Church  has  a  mission  in  this 
world.  But  while  the  young  convert  in  Christian  lands  finds 
social  customs,  usages,  and  institutions  hardened  into  forms  ap- 
propriate for  the  expression  of  the  Christian  life,  in  heathen  lands, 
before  the  impulse  to  free  and  various  action  implanted  by  the 
gospel  can  manifest  itself,  an  immense  work  must  first  be  done. 
In  the  interpretation  of  religious  experience,  for  example,  and 
the  translation  of  religious  emotion  into  intellectual  forms,  no 
access  can  be  had.  without  mastering  a  foreign  tongue,  to  a  lit- 
erature treasuring  the  ideas  and  thoughts  of  generations  of  Chris- 
tians ;  nor  is  there  a  vocabulary  by  means  of  which  to  communi- 
cate new  feelings  and  experiences  to  others.  Filled  with  joy,  the 
convert  cannot  sing,  for  he  has  no  knowledge  of  note,  meter,  or 
time,  nor  are  there  Christian  hymns  to  sin.?  or  congregations 
capable  of  singing.  Tn  home,  market,  and  social  sphere,  estab- 
lished usage  must  be  clashed  with  and  outwprd  form  brought  int.-. 


EDUCATION    AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  131 

accord  with  Christian  principle.  Reform  is  not  only  necessary  in  W-\'NKIGIIT. 
social  customs  and  practices  ;  but  politics,  art,  literature,  and  phi- 
losophy must  feel  the  renovating  touch  of  Christianity.  No  one 
can  possibly  doubt  the  value  of  from  five  to  eight  years  of  mental 
and  moral  training  in  a  Christian  school  to  those  called  upon  to 
effect  this  great  constructive  task  in  the  transformation  of  na- 
tional life.  And  to  secure  pure  conceptions,  spiritual  ideals,  and 
refined  outward  forms,  it  is  important  that  the  young  be  trained 
before  the  evil  day  comes,  before  pagan  habits  are  formed,  and 
before  pagan  ideas  become  the  intellectual  furniture  of  the  mind.  xran»fonn» 
The  Christianity  of  Teutonic  Europe,  for  instance,  is  of  a  purer  of  national 
type,  where  no  other  than  Christian  culture  was  ever  known, 
than  that  of  the  Latin  races,  where  large  numbers  entered  the 
Church  after  having  received  on  their  natures  the  stamp  and  im- 
press of  a  pagan  civilization.  Might  not  one  great  section  of  the 
Christian  Church  have  been  freer  of  abased  forms  of  worship ; 
might  Christian  theology  not  have  been  less  vitiated  by  pagan 
ideas ;  might  the  stream  of  Christian  history  not  have  been  purer 
and  clearer;  and  might  the  early  Church  not  have  escaped  the 
unhappy  consequence  of  sending  truth  mixed  with  error,  and 
spirituality  tinged  with  superstition,  down  through  the  ages  and 
out  through  the  nations,  if  the  Christian  school  had  been  adopted 
and  not  discussed  for  two  or  three  centuries,  and  if  the  pioneers 
of  Christian  history  in  the  Roman  Empire  had  been  trained  by 
Christian  instead  of  pagan  school-teachers? 

Profiting  by  the  past,  let  us  give  every  advantage  to  the  infant 
Church  in  heathen  lands  to-day,  that  the  source  may  be  kept  pure, 
for  how  far  into  the  future  the  stream  of  history  may  reach  we 
are  unable  to  know.  The  world  may  exist  for  ages  yet,  for  aught 
we  know,  before  it  melts  with  fervent  heat  and  is  destroyed. 

The  adoption  of  a  new  faith  and  the  break  with  the  established 
order  awakens  opposition  and  requires  self-defense.  The  apolo- 
getic element  becomes  prominent,  and  colors  preaching  and  writ- 
ing and  enters  into  the  daily  conversation  of  the  people.  Not 
only  has  the  Christian  to  contend  witli  antecedents  and  environ- 
ment adverse  to  Christian  principles  :  but  against  prejudice,  big- 
otry, and  self-interest  ;  against  the  ascendency  of  matter  over 
mind  in  the  unchecked  sway  of  industrial  over  the  higher  inter- 
ests of  man  ;  against  widespread  skepticism  following  the  aban- 
doment  of  the  accumulated  idolatries  and  superstitions  of  32"es 


I32  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


WAINRIGHT. 


and  intrenched  in  secular  schools  of  modern  learning  springing 
up  in  all  our  mission  fields. 

No  one  on  the  outside,  by  the  most  strained  effort  of  imagina- 
tion, can  picture  to  himself  the  quiet  but  mighty  struggle  going 
on  in  heathen  lands.  Yet  no  Christian  can  afford  to  be  uninter- 
ested. The  very  nature  of  the  gospel,  touching  as  it  does  the 
world's  hope  and  progress,  is  such  as  to  inspire  to  devotion  and 
incite  to  activity  every  one  who  believes  Christ's  gospel  alone 
is  adequate  to  cleanse  the  polluted  earth  of  its  lusts,  supersti- 
tions, idolatries,  naturalisms,  pantheisms,  atheisms,  and  every 
passion,  fancy,  and  conceit  which  exalts  itself  against  the  true 
and  living  God  and  the  Christ  whom  he  has  sent. 

If  the  three  great  features  of  the  Christian  work — instruction, 
construction,  and  defense — call  for  high  mental  qualities  and  ear- 
nest intellectual  processes,  we  would  not  make  the  impression 
that  education  terminates  on  the  intellect.  The  greatest  triumphs 
of  the  school  come  from  its  peculiar  fitness  to  recover  the  emo- 
tional life  largely  lost  to  heathenism,  and  to  inculcate  habits  and 
build  up  character.  Of  course  the  creation  of  religious  or  the 
spiritualization  of  natural  emotions  is  a  work  lying  beyond  the 
range  of  the  educative  process,  and  is  accomplished  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  secret  depths  of  the  soul.  But  every  expression  of 
an  inner  state  intensifies  it,  and  hearts  warmed  to  devotion  in  the 
edu"  daily  prayer  meeting,  and  solemnized  and  expanded  in  Chris- 
tian worship,  will  more  likely  become  established  in  holy  dispo- 
sition, and  the  will  disciplined  in  Christian  habit  will  be  more 
likely  to  stand  against  the  evil  tendencies  of  the  age.  In  the 
building  of  character,  the  formation  of  heart  attachments  for  all 
that  is  good  and  heart  associations  with  all  that  is  noble,  and  in 
the  cultivation  of  all  spiritual  tendencies,  we  reach  the  very  heart 
of  the  educational  problem,  and  on  this  alone  the  cause  of  Church 
schools  might  find  a  sufficient  basis.  But  we  have  already  trans- 
cended the  limits  prescribed  for  us. 

We  commend  to  your  earnest  attention  and  sympathy  our  edu- 
cational interests.  We  rejoice  in  the  session  of  a  Missionary 
Conference  in  the  Southland.  A  favoring  Providence,  like  the 
Southern  sun.  has  called  forth  luxuriant  growth,  and  covered 
the  land,  once  desolate  and  ruined,  with  the  pleasing  aspect?  of 
blessing  and  prosperity.  With  returning  peace  and  the  full  tide 
of  life  at  home  must  be  reckoned  blessings  to  us  beyond  our  bor- 
ders in  the  spiritual  heritage  acquired  in  China.  Korea,  Japan, 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION.  133 

Mexico,  Cuba,  and  Brazil.  Such  astonishing  changes  wrought  W.MNKIGHT. 
within  the  memory  of  many  now  living  are  an  earnest  of  far  more 
glorious  achievements  under  God's  guidance  during  the  new  cen- 
tury. By  obedience  to  impulses  of  divine  love  planted  within  us. 
by  wisdom  and  zeal  and  exertion  and  self-sacrifice,  and  by  the 
help  of  the  Spirit,  signal  success  may  crown  our  endeavor  to  lead  Our  opportu- 
ihe  nations  just  named  to  make  Christ,  in  the  building  up  of  nlty- 
their  commonwealths,  the  Head  of  the  corner;  to  secure  a  hold  for 
Christianity  upon  all  the  foundations  essential  to  progressive  so- 
cial constitutions ;  and  to  so  transform,  under  gospel  influence, 
the  thought,  sentiment,  morality,  the  industrial,  commercial,  and 
political  efforts  of  the  people,  that  the  throbbing  life  of  each  na- 
tion may  aspire  in  all  things  toward  God.  For  the  hastening  of 
so  glorious  a  consummation,  such  agencies  as  pulpit,  press,  and 
school  should  be  amply  supported,  should  be  kept  ceaselessly 
busy,  and  should  be  sanctified  to  the  service  of  our  divine  and 
blessed  Lord  and  the  spiritual  interests  of  his  eternal  kingdom. 


MISSIONS   AND   EDUCATION. 

JOHN    FRANKLIN    GOUCIIER,   D.D.,  LL.D. 

EVERY  activity  of  the  Christian  Church  must  be  adjudged  by 
its  relation  to  the  prime  objective  of  Christianity.  Neither  ordi- 
nance nor  activity  has  excellence  in  itself.  Each  is  approved  or 
condemned  as  it  contributes  to  or  retards  the  purposes  of  divine 
!  >ve.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

The  objective  of  Christianity  is  fellowship  between  God  and 
man.  "God  is  faithful,  through  whom  ye  were  called  unto  the 

fellowship  of  his  Son,  Tesus  Christ  our  Lord."     To  make  this 

•  11          1  •  -1  ,       ^  •  1     ,   f  i  •  1  •  rr  Salvation  is 

fellowship  possible,  God  has  provided  for  and  is  seeking  to  effect  fellowship 

human   salvation.     This   is   the  work   nearest   the   heart   of  the   ^th  Gwl- 
Master.     Neither  the  complete  salvation  of  some  nor  the  partial 
salvation  of  all  is  adequate  to  his  purpose.     "He  willeth  that  all 
ir.en  should  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 

This  salvation  is  threefold  : 

T.  It  includes  salvation  from  sin.  or  spiritual  regeneration.  God 
considers  moral  delincniencv  as  rooted  in  moral  deereneracv.  He 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


iOt  I  HKK. 


Regeneration. 


Illumination. 


goes  beyond  sin  in  the  act  to  sin  in  motive,  in  the  attitude  of  the 
soul,  in  the  nature,  which  cannot  be  cured  by  education,  organiza- 
tion, or  legislation.  He  stops  not  at  forgiveness,  but  conditions 
forgiveness  upon  repentance  toward  God  and  the  acceptance  of 
regeneration.  He  is  not  satisfied  with  curbing  the  desires,  but 
purposes  to  eradicate  all  enmity,  rebellion,  and  dissonance  to  the 
divine  law  by  making  the  soul  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature, 
so  re-creating  it  that  the  unrestricted  expression  of  its  renewed 
nature  will  be  to  love,  hate,  seek,  and  resist  in  harmony  with 
the  divine  activities.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  can  man  have  oneness 
with  God  in  purpose,  activity,  and  outcome,  for  "to  be  carnally 
minded  is  death,  and  to  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and  peace." 

2.  The  provisions  and  requirements  of  God  include  salvation 
from  ignorance,  as  well  as  salvation  from  sin.  God  regenerates 
the  mind  as  well  as  the  spirit,  and  is  honored  in  its  fullest  use. 
"This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel 
after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their 
mind,  and  write  them  in  their  hearts :  and  I  will  be  to  them  a 
God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people."  Knowledge  and  obe- 
dience are  inseparable.  Knowledge  is  fundamental  to  obedience, 
for  ''how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?" 
And  obedience  is  the  organ  of  spiritual  perception,  for  "if  any 
man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  Ignorance 
of  impending  law  may  be  as  destructive  as  its  defiance.  In  the 
Mosaic  economy  atonement  for  sins  of  ignorance  was  as  obli- 
gatory as  for  sins  of  willfulness.  Paul's  ideal  of  Christian  per- 
fection included  the  most  comprehensive  knowledge  of  Christ. 
He  counted  all  things  else  as  refuse  that  he  might  know  him. 
that  is  historical;  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  that  is  ex- 
perimentally; and  the  fellowship  of  his  suffering,  that  is  philo- 
sophically. Spiritual  life  is  inseparable  from  knowledge,  "for 
this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  thee  the  only  true  God. 
and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent."  The  enlargement  of 
human  intelligence  and  the  increase  of  human  knowledge  are 
emphasized  bv  Christ  as  included  in  the  purpose  of  his  incarna- 
tion. "To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into 
the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth."  While  all 
truth  has  a  common  origin,  all  truth  is  not  equally  necessary  to 
salvation  from  sin  ;  but  all  truth  is  related,  and  the  knowledge  of 
it  is  essential  to  fullness  of  power  and  fellowship.  Without  this 
man  cannot  obey  the  first  recorded  command  given  the  race  "to 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION. 

replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it.''     Improvableness  is  man's  BOUCHER. 

chief  characteristic.     Progress  is  the  law  for  the  continuance  of 

the  race.     It  must  develop  or  deteriorate.     The  consummation 

of  grace  is  not  in  arrested  development,  for  we  are  to  "grow  in 

grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 

Christ"  till  we  "may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what 

is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know 

the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge."     The  ability  to 

see  and  enjoy  God  in  his  works  and  his  ways  as  well  as  in  his 

Word,  to  think  his  thoughts  as  well  as  to  do  his  will,  measures 

the  fullness  and  sweetness  of  fellowship  with  him. 

3.  Salvation  includes  in  addition  to  salvation  from  sin  and  con- 
sequent qualification  for  service,  and  salvation  from  ignorance 
and  consequent  enlargement  of  personality,  salvation  from  dis-  preParatlon- 
articulation  and  inutility,  or  economic  reorganization  and  effi- 
ciency. An  aimless,  disarticulated,  or  unproductive  life  is  an 
abomination  unto  the  Lord.  Purposeful  activity  is  the  concomi- 
tant of  intelligence.  "My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work," 
said  Jesus,  and  every  Christian  is  called  to  be  a  laborer  together 
with  God.  Occupancy  is  the  law  of  possession.  "Every  place 
that  the  sole  of  thy  foot  shall  tread  upon,  that  have  I  given  unto 
you."  The  servant  for  failing  to  use  his  trust  was  stripped  of 
that  which  he  seemed  to  have,  and  cast  into  outer  darkness.  The 
tree  which  was  unfruitful  was  cursed,  for  if  unproductive  it  cum- 
bered the  ground.  "God  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure."  "Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear 
much  fruit ;  so  shall  ye  be  my  disciples." 

It  is  not  enough  that  we  invest  for  God.  It  is  not  enough  that 
we  invest  our  all  for  him.  His  care  extends  to  the  manner  and 
outcome  as  well  as  the  matter  of  investment.  "Thou  oughtest 
therefore  to  have  put  my  money  to  the  exchangers,  and  then  at 
my  coming  I  should  have  received  mine  own  with  usury."  It  is 
fruitage  he  seeks — "much  fruit."  He  would  have  the  posses- 
sions he  has  intrusted  to  men  so  invested  that  they  will  realize 
the  largest  possible  return.  There  is  a  reflex  relationship  be- 
tween productiveness  and  development.  "There  is  a  giving  that 
doth  enrich."  "Bear  much  fruit:  so  be  my  disciples."  Only  the 
partakers  of  his  toil  shall  be  partakers  of  his  glory.  "Faithful 
over  the  few  things"  is  the  earnest  of  being  "ruler  over  many 
things."  The  joint  heirs  of  Jesus  Christ  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord,  which  is  the  io\-  of  achievement.  "God  hath  not  given 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

us  the  spirit  of  fear ;  but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound 
mind." 

These  various  phases  of  salvation  are  suggested  by  the  great 
Teacher  in  those  inimitable  parables  recorded  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  St.  Luke.  The  prodigal  son,  lost  by  his  own  willful 
effort,  was  saved  by  personal,  purposeful,  and  deliberate  return 
to  the  father,  whose  love  and  bounty  he  had  despised.  There  was 
joy  because  he  who  was  dead  to  his  home  is  alive  to  the  services 
of  love.  The  shepherd  sought  and  carried  back  upon  his  shoulder, 
to  the  protection  and  providence  of  the  fold,  the  sheep  lost 
through  ignorance  and  folly.  There  was  joy  because  the  shep- 
herd had  rescued  the  foolish,  ignorant  sheep  from  unsuspected 
dangers.  The  piece  of  money  was  not  changed  per  se.  It  was 
lost  when  disarticulated  from  responsiveness  to  purpose.  It  was 
sought  till  in  hand  again.  There  was  joy  because  the  woman 
had  gained  control  of  the  piece  which  had  become  useless. 

The  fullness  of  salvation  is  loving,  intelligent,  efficient  serv- 
ihe  fullness  of  ice  with  God.  The  objective  of  Christianity  is  fellowship  between 
salvation.  QQCJ  ancj  man>  m  spirit,  knowledge,  and  achievement. 

The  missions  of  a  Church  interpret  its  ideals  and  life,  and 
should  embody  the  essentials  of  Christianity.  They  are  its  or- 
ganized agencies  for  inaugurating  in  the  regions  beyond  its  world- 
conquering  purpose.  The  commission  which  God  gave  the 
Church  to  be  his  legacy  and  the  test  of  true  discipleship  neces- 
sitates and  limits  the  work  of  missions.  ''All  power  is  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you 
ahvay,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

This  makes  the  maintenance  and  prosecution  of  Christian  mis- 
sions obligatory  upon  the  Christian  Church  and  upon  each  indi- 
vidual Christian.  The  neglect  by  either  is  a  failure  in  duty,  and 
results  in  the  loss  of  power;  it  defrauds  the  world  and  retards  the 
consummation  of  divine  love.  The  Church,  individually  and  col- 
lectively, is  required  to  go  and  teach ;  to  teach  those  to  whom 
sent,  and  to  teach  the  things  commanded.  Thus,  and  thus  only, 
can  they  have  the  enabling  of  the  divine  power  and  the  indwelling 
of  the  divine  presence.  Conformity  to  this  law  of  the  kingdom  is 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION.  137 

a  test  of  citizenship.    "None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man   <'OICIIKR- 
dieth  to  himself." 

"  Thou  hast  on  earth  a  Trinity, 

Thyself,  my  fellow-man,  and  me; 

When  one  with  him,  then  one  with  thee, 

Nor,  save  together,  thine  are  we." 

The  aim  of  all  mission  work  is  one — viz.,  to  inaugurate  the 
kingdom  of  mutual  love  and  fellowship  between  God  and  man. 
But  the  extent  and  methods  of  mission  work  are  variable.  The  Si0ns- 
extent  is  limited  by  ability  and  opportunity,  while  the  methods 
are  determined  by  the  laws  which  govern  the  adaptation  oi 
means  to  ends. 

There  are  three  extreme  theories  of  mission  activity  : 

(a)  The  ultra  evangelical,  which  addresses  itself  solely  to  the 
conversion  of  the  individual  soul,  and  thinks  its  work  done  when 
a  soul  has  repented,  confessed,  and  accepted  of  the  conditions  of 
salvation  from  sin. 

(b)  The  ultra  educational,   which  occupies  itself  with  the  in- 
tellectual training  of  youth  in  all  kinds  of  truth,  except  religious 
truth.    I  met  a  bachelor  priest,  on  my  way  to  Southern  Asia,  who 
represented  this  theory.    He  said  that  for  seventeen  years  the  so- 
ciety which  supported  him  had  maintained  the  large  and  well- 
equipped  college  of  which  he  was  President,  without  a  known  con- 
vert, and  they  do  not  expect  their  students  to  be  converted.     A 
missionary  of  another  society  in  Southern  India  said  that  they  had 
been  supporting  a  school  for  high-caste  Telugus  for  fifty-seven 
years,  and  three  converts  in  as  many  weeks  would,  in  his  judg- 
ment, close  the  school. 

(c)  The   humanitarian   theory,   which   starts    with    Christ   and 
Christian  truth,  but  believes  itself  called  upon  to  relieve  every 
need  and  to  arrange  for  and  supervise  all  sorts  of  technical  and 
industrial  agencies. 

These  all  fall  short  or  go  wide  of  the  true  goal  of  missionary 
effort.  The  mission  of  the  Church  and  Church  missions  are  es- 
sentially educational.  Christianity  is  a  revelation,  and  its  minis- 

trv  must  be  a  teaching  ministrv.     Christianity  is  a  progressive   Essentially 
.  .      .    ,  fe  educational, 

revelation.     Its  disciples  must  be  learners,  and  its  ministry  must 

be  an  educative  ministry,  "bringing  forth  out  of  its  treasure 
things  new  and  old,"  giving  "the  sincere  milk  of  the  word"  to 
babes,  and  the  "strong  meat  to  those  who  bv  reason  of  use  have 


GOITIIKK. 


138  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil."  Christian- 
ity is  an  experience,  and  its  ministry  must  be  a  witnessing  min- 
istry. 

Information  is  inspiration.  Instruction  is  construction.  The 
teacher  is  the  transformer.  Conquered  Greece  reconstructed 
Rome  by  her  school-teachers.  Christ  lived  the  law  and  gathered 
about  him  the  school  of  the  apostles,  that  in  the  atmosphere  of 
his  presence  he  might  teach  by  example  and  precept  those  whom 
afterwards  he  commanded  to  go  teach. 

Missionary  activity,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  edu- 
cational. In  non-Christian  lands  ignorance  is  not  a  crime,  though 
an  almost  universal  evil.  It  is  estimated  that  in  India  only  six 
per  cent  of  the  male  population  and  not  more  than  one-third  of 
one  per  cent  of  the  female  population  over  ten  years  of  age  can 
read  or  write,  while  in  China  not  more  than  one  per  cent  of  the 
males  and  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  females  possess  these 
rudiments  of  education.  Granting  that  these  estimates  may  be 
too  low,  yet  the  illiteracy  is  distressing.  Ignorance  in  heathen 
lands  involves  not  only  the  want  of  a  knowledge  of  letters,  but 
is  accompanied  by  mental  blindness  and  vacuity  which  can  neither 
entertain  nor  understand  words  and  sentences  which  stand  for 
spiritual  ideas.  Whatever  may  be  the  success  of  preaching,  it 
must  be  supplemented  by  schools,  for  education  is  essential  to 
the  reading  and  the  understanding  of  the  Bible.  Enervation. 
want  of  aggressiveness,  and  sterility  characterize  all  missions 
which  ignore  educational  work  and  limit  themselves  solely  to 
evangelical  activities. 

Every  true  system  of  education  must  aim  primarily  at  the 
development  of  character.  But  we  are  not  to  discuss  this  broader 
subject:  only  the  education  legitimate  to  missionary  effort.  This 
^hould  always  be  subordinate  to  the  work  of  salvation.  That  is 
the  motive  for  its  establishment  and  the  justification  for  its  con- 
tinuance. Therefore,  whatever  it  includes  or  excludes,  it  should 
always  be  functioned  to  its  high  Christian  purpose.  There  is  no 
distinctively  Christian  arithmetic,  geography,  or  spelling:  bin 
these  and  kindred  studies  arc  worthily  included  in  a  mission 
school  only,  and  in  proportion  as  they  are  accessory  to  the  re- 
generation of  humanity.  They  should  be  accompanied  with  moral 
and  religious  training,  and  given  in  an  atmosphere  thoroughly 

True  ednca-       Christian.     Tt  has  been  well  said:  "He  would  be  a  strange  mis- 
tlon, 

sionarv  teacher  who  could  not  make  bis  puoils  feel  a  dozen  times 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION.  139 

a  day  that  geography  is  but  the  description  of  one  of  God's  es-   <;ol'CIIER- 
tates ;  that  it  is  God  whose  will  makes  the  laws  of  physics,  chem- 
istry, or  astronomy;  that  it  is  God  who  rules  in  the  history  of 
nations ;  and  that  the  laws  of  number,  order,  and  thought  are  ex- 
pressions of  his  mind." 

Education  divorced  from  Christianity  is  not  a  moral  regen- 
erator. The  high  priest  officiating  at  the  Kalighat  in  Calcutta 
during  one  of  my  visits  there  had  won  his  second  degree  in  a 
representative  university,  and  spoke  English  beautifully,  but  he 
catered  to  the  grossest  superstitions  of  the  people,  and  gloated 
over  the  offerings  wrung  from  them  by  their  fear  of  the  hideous 
goddess  of  cruelty,  whose  sacrifices  he  directed. 

Secular  education  may  destroy  faith  in  the  ancestral  beliefs, 
but  it  has  nothing-  better  to  offer  as  a  substitute.  It  is  said  that 
less  than  five  per  cent  of  the  Hindoos  educated  in  the  govern- 
ment schools  of  India  have  any  religion  at  all.  It  has  loosened  Evus0fa 
their  old  moorings,  but  given  them  no  new  anchorage.  Men  high  purely  secular 
in  official  position,  who  have  had  large  opportunities  for  varied  e 
and  careful  observation,  seriously  question  if  the  morals  of  the 
student  class  in  India,  China,  and  Japan  have  not  steadily  deteri- 
orated under  the  influences  of  purely  secular  education.  Some 
positively  affirm  they  have,  and  native  statesmen,  not  a  few,  are 
outspoken  in  their  judgment  that  Christian  ethics  must  be  in- 
cluded in  government  instruction  if  they  would  develop  sturdy 
characters  and  the  best  citizens.  "The  entrance  of  thy  words 
giveth  light;  it  giveth  understanding  unto  the  simple."  It  is  the 
quickening,  enlightening,  transforming  force,  divinely  appointed 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

The  education  offered  should  not  duplicate  that  which  is  al- 
ready accessible,  but  should  be  in  substantial  advance  of  that 
which  can  be  had  in  similar  grades  elsewhere — fully  equal  to  the 
best,  plus  thorough  and  systematic,  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion. It  is  not  the  quantity  but  the  quality  of  the  work  which 
determines  efficiency  and  merits  commendation.  There  are  places 
other  than  the  divine  audience  where  men  are  not  heard  because 
of  their  much  speaking. 

There  are  three  objects  in  particular,  attainable  through  educa- 
tion, for  which  Christian  missions  are  under  obligation  to  provide  : 

I.  To  train  native  helpers.  In  Christianizing  a  people  the  na- 
tive agencies  must  come  more  and  more  to  the  fore.  In  order 
that  they  may  be  qualified  for  these  varied,  multiplying,  and  en- 


140  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

GOL-CHER.  larging  demands,  there  must  be  provision  for  their  special  educa- 
tion. In  the  ruder  forms  of  barbaric  life  this  is  necessary,  that 
the  most  promising  of  the  new  converts  may  be  brought  to  a  fuller 
understanding  of  the  truth  in  its  personal  and  broader  relations,  ac- 
quire the  power  to  simplify  instruction,  to  illustrate  the  great  doc- 
trines, and  so  apply  the  Word  as  to  appeal  to  and  quicken  the 
sluggish,  sensual  lives  about  them.  In  more  complex  civilizations, 
which  have  familiarized  themselves  with  the  subtler  forms  of  argu- 
ment and  evasion,  the  mind  is  no  less  opaque  to  spiritual  verities, 
and  there  must  be  broader  training  for  the  skillful  use  of  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  mission  problems  most  •  carefully 
upon  the  field  are  not  surprised  that  the  results  are  no  larger ;  the 
wonder  to  them  is  that  the  inadequately  prepared  agents  should 
have  realized  so  largely.  Whatever  the  field,  the  natural  require- 
ment is  that  the  leaders  shall  be  in  advance  of  the  people  they  would 
lead.  While  success  is  "not  by  might,  nor  by  power,"  but  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord,  yet  God  works  through  agencies,  and  in  the  past 
he  intrusted  his  great  movements  to  the  leading  scholars  of  their 
times,  men  schooled  in  the  knowledge  of  his  Word  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  age,  such  as  Moses,  who  was  "learned  in  all  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Egyptians,''  and  Paul,  who  was  as  familiar  with  the 
Greek  poets  and  Roman  law  as  with  the  Pentateuch,  and  Luther, 
the  philosopher,  theologian,  linguist,  dialectician,  and  voluminous 
author,  and  Wesley,  the  most  versatile  scholar  and  greatest  eccle- 
siastical statesman  of  his  century. 

The  broadening  and  deepening  of  the  work  in  mission  fields  will 
be  commensurate  with  the  increase  in  numbers  and  efficiency  of 
the  native  agents.  Hearts  must  be  reached  by  heart  power.  The 

mother  tongue  is  the  language  of  the  heart.     It  is  impossible  for 
Need  of  na-  &      .  '.  , 

tive  work-   other  than  natives  to  meet  the  subtler  and  increasing  demands  of 

ers>  the  sluggish,  incoherent  mass  which  needs  individualizing,  awaken- 

ing, conversion,  organizing,  and  development.  They  must  carry  on 
and,  in  ever-increasing  measure,  do  the  work.  They  should  be  edu- 
cated for  service,  and  not  away  from  sympathy  and  helpfulness. 
Therefore,  with  perhaps  the  rarest  exceptions,  mission  workers 
should  acquire  their  education  in  their  own  land,  and  not  unneces- 
sarily removed  from  their  own  people.  When  taken  into  another 
civilization,  and  kept  through  some  of  the  most  impressible  years 
of  their  lives,  they  are  more  or  less  denationalized.  Their  sympa- 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION.  14! 

thies  with  their  own  people  are  almost  always  blunted,  and  their  G°UCHER- 
tastes,  dress,  manner  of  thought,  modes  of  expression,  and  aims  are 

so  changed  as  to  discount  or  interfere  with  the  success  they  might  How  to 

,   .  ~  educate 

have  attained  if  in  closer  touch  and  in  less  offensive  contrast  with  them. 

those  among  whom  they  are  to  labor.  The  possession  of  spiritual 
knowledge  and  power  is  humbling,  increases  sympathy,  and  is  help- 
ful, but  education  may  be  so  advanced  in  other  lines  as  to  erect 
barriers  and  destroy  usefulness. 

The  educational  institutions  of  a  mission  should  be  an  evolution, 
with  standards  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  particular  mission,  chan- 
ging from  time  to  time  as  these  change,  and  not  based  upon  the 
ideals  of  some  other  land  or  different  field.  In  most  places  the  first 
need  will  be  primary  schools  of  the  simplest  form.  Later,  sec- 
ondary schools  will  be  required,  preparing  for  the  theological,  nor- 
mal, or  college  training  of  such  as  will  appreciate  it.  For  there  is 
no  going  back ;  when  the  seed  has  been  planted,  development  is 
inevitable. 

The  missions  of  America  and  England,  at  least,  should  lay  great 
stress  upon  the  mastery  of  English  in  all  schools  above  the  primary 
grade,  because  of  the  inexhaustible  and  incomparable  spiritual  treas- 
ures contained  in  its  literature,  and  because  it  is  less  difficult,  less  of  English, 
expensive,  and  far  more  satisfactory  to  teach  English  to  a  company 
of  students  who  speak  a  dozen  or  twenty  different  languages  than 
it  would  be  to  make  translations  into  the  native  tongues  which  have 
no  adequate  vocabulary,  and  find  professors  and  time  to  instruct  the 
various  classes. 

The  institutions  supported  by  general  mission  funds  are  not  for 
professional  studies  nor  for  training  in  scientific  pursuits.  These 
may  be  provided  by  the  Church,  when  able,  out  of  indigenous  re- 
sources or  by  special  donations  for  the  purpose,  but  they  belong  to 
a  stage  beyond  that  of  ordinary  and  most  urgent  mission  require- 
ments. The  mission  college  should  educate  the  student  in  the  use 
of  his  faculties,  ground  him  in  the  first  principles  of  knowledge,  in 
the  various  departments  of  thought  and  effort,  and  in  the  ethics 
and  great  central  truths  of  the  gospel,  that  he  may  quadrate  his 
life  by  these,  and  become  a  constructive  force  in  the  moral  and  social 
regeneration  of  the  world. 

II.  A  second  object  of  the  educational  work  of  missions  is  to 
bring  the  non-Christian  youth  of  the  community  under  systematic 
religious  influences  with  the  hope  of  their  conversion.  If  Christian 


142 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Education 
for  conver- 
sion. 


Lack  of 
teachers. 


What 

schools  do. 


doctrine  is  taught  with  as  much  clearness,  patience,  and  enthu- 
siasm as  arithmetic,  reading,  and  writing,  or  the  more  advanced 
studies  in  a  first-class  secular  school :  if  the  Bible  is  honored,  if 
prayer  is  offered  daily,  if  the  teachers  are  consistent  with  the  Chris- 
tian standard  of  deportment,  and  if  the  school,  of  whatever  grade,  is 
thoroughly  spiritual  in  its  atmosphere,  it  will  prove  a  mighty  agency 
for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom. 

If  time  permitted  I  might  cite  in  detail  the  history  of  a  system 
of  schools,  including  about  one  hundred,  in  which  every  school  ses- 
sion has  been  opened  by  reading  the  Bible,  singing  Christian  hymns 
and  prayer,  and  the  singing  of  Christian  hymns  and  the  catechism 
of  the  Church  have  been  taught  as  a  part  of  every  day's  instruction 
for  eighteen  years.  During  that  time  these  schools  have  resulted, 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  more  than  forty  thousand  conversions. 

The  difficulty  is  not  to  get  scholars  but  teachers.  Wherever  Chris- 
tianity enters,  there  emerges  a  growing  thirst  for  Western  learning. 
Missionary  schools,  if  loyal  to  their  high  purpose,  show  increasing 
efficiency,  and  frequently  receive  government  encouragement.  They 
gradually  command  the  patronage  of  the  non-Christian  people  about 
them,  and  come  in  time  to  be  entirely  or  nearly  self-supporting. 
They  should  always  collect  in  money,  produce,  or  service  such  tui- 
tion fees  as  may  be  possible ;  never  pauperize  or  chill  the  spirit  of 
helpfulness  in  those  whom  they  would  elevate.  In  developing  such 
communities  nothing  is  more  important  than  self-help. 

In  such  schools  impulse  is  given  to  both  the  mental  and  spiritual 
powers,  and  their  development  is  guided  with  a  view  to  usefulness. 
They  develop  and  conserve  energy.  Their  influence  is  lasting  and 
helpful.  They  break  down  prejudice,  eradicate  superstitions,  de- 
stroy fanaticism,  nullify  the  force  of  heathen  traditions,  awaken  a 
better  appreciation  of  the  dignity  of  man,  bring  the  student  to  realize 
the  common  relationship  of  all  men  and  of  their  vital  relationship 
to  the  Creator  of  all,  secure  a  firmer  reverence  for  individual  life, 
strengthen  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility  to  God,  and  beget  an 
earnest  desire  for  his  personal  favor.  It  is  the  most  potent  and  least 
expensive  way  to  bring  to  them  the  truth  which  shall  make  them 
free.  The  work  of  Christian  education  must  be  weighed  as  well  as 
counted,  for  all  over  India  the  leaders  of  the  native  Churches  are 
the  educated  men  who  learned  of  Christ  in  the  class  room. 

III.  The  third  object  of  the  educational  work  of  missions  is  to  as- 
sist in  the  development  of  self-supporting  and  self-propagating 


MISSIONS    AND    EDUCATION.  143 

Churches.  The  appreciation  and  support  of  an  educated  ministry  GOICIIER- 
must  be  looked  for  in  an  educated  laity.  Christian  education  must 
underlie  and  sustain  the  amenities,  the  efficiency,  and  the  aggressive, 
organizing  enterprise  of  Christianity.  The  great  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  inevitably  inspire  aspirations  and  activities  which  it  is  as 
essential  to  provide  for  as  to  create.  Christianity  must  be  judged 

by  its  ability  to  meet  necessities  as  well  as  to  develop  desires.    If  it 

The  devel- 
should  stop  short  of  this,  the  last  state  of  its  converts  would  be  worse  opment  of 

than  the  former.     The  enlargement  of  their  personality  and  their  tte  native 

.  Church. 

enrichment  for  service  are  as  essential  to  the  progress  of  the  Church 
as  to  the  quickened  aspirations  of  the  converts.  The  mission  schools 
are  perennial  fountains  of  blessing.  They  are  sending  out  contin- 
ually "the  Christian  man,  manufacturer  and  magistrate,  whose  life 
will  be  broadened,  whose  productive  power  will  be  multiplied,  whose 
justice  will  be  made  unimpeachable  by  the  knowledge  and  the  in- 
spiration of  what  he  learned  at  the  school."  These  will  covet  similar 
or  increased  opportunities  for  their  children,  and  can  be  relied  upon 
as  willing  supporters,  wise  counselors,  and  persuasive  advocates  for 
mission  work.  Through  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  the  edu- 
cation of  the  schools  the  disciple  is  being  prepared  for  an  ever- 
growing fellowship  of  love,  knowledge,  and  service  with  his  Lord. 

But  there  are  limitations  to  the  character  and  extent  of  the  edu- 
cational work  of  missions.  The  danger  is  that,  allured  by  success, 
zeal,  or  sympathy,  they  may  attempt  forms  of  work  which  are  extra 
to  their  legitimate  office.  The  purpose  of  missions  is  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  kingdom ;  not  simply  the  salvation  of  a  soul,  but  the  sal-  Legitimate 
vation  of  souls  for  service.  Abstractly,  one  soul  is  as  dear  to  God 
as  another,  but  God  selects  his  instruments  with  infinite  exactness ; 
and,  as  between  two  souls,  he  gives  a  larger  opportunity  for  prepara- 
tion to  the  one  that  mny  do  more  for  the  kingdom.  There  are 
missions  which  invest  largely  of  their  limited  funds  in  the  most  ex- 
pensive and  least  promising  kinds  of  work.  An  excessive  amount 
of  orphanage  work  may  be  of  this  kind.  Children  in  large  numbers 
are  frequently  gathered  together  and  kept  in  an  institution,  under 
training,  the  sole  basis  of  their  selection  being  that  they  were  orphans 
or  had  been  abandoned  by  their  parents.  Frequently  their  strength, 
vitality,  and  aptitudes  are  below  the  average,  not  infrequently  far 
below.  They  were  disarticulated  from  society  by  the  death  or  deser- 
tion of  their  parents,  and  the  breach  has  been  broadened  by  the 
atmosphere  in  which  they  have  received  their  training,  for  institu- 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GOVCHEK. 


Schools 
better  than 
orphan- 
ages. 


Chris  tiani- 
ty  is  in- 
spiration- 
al. 


An  Intel 

Isctual 

.struggle. 


tional  life  is  inevitably  more  or  less  abnormal.  Measured  by  their 
adaptation  to  the  conditions  in  which  they  must  live  after  leaving 
the  orphanage,  they  do  not  prove  the  investment  made  in  them  to 
be  the  most  productive  possible.  If,  instead  of  thus  keeping  ore 
child  already  disarticulated  from  society  in  the  abnormal  atmos- 
phere of  an  institution  from  six  to  twelve  years,  a  similar  investment 
of  money,  time,  and  effort  had  been  made  in  two  or  three  children, 
each  fully  equal  to,  and  perhaps  much  above,  the  average  in  ability, 
aptitudes,  and  opportunities  for  service,  having  home  and  social 
associations,  communicating  and  illustrating  at  these  centers  of  life 
and  influence  the  truths  taught  at  the  boarding  or  day  school  of  the 
mission — the  probabilities  are  that  the  results  would  have  been  far- 
ther-reaching and  have  contributed  much  more  largely  toward  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom. 

Christianity  is  inspirational  and  not  institutional.  It  works  direct- 
ly upon  the  individual  and  through  the  individual  upon  society, 
directly  upon  the  heart  and  indirectly  upon  the  periphery.  It  has 
to  do  with  truth  and  character.  It  transforms  the  unit  and  holds 
it  to  the  highest  and  best  in  ideal,  effort,  and  organization.  It  is  the 
duty  of  missions  to  aid  in  the  planting  of  the  Church  by  securing 
personal  piety,  personal  intelligence,  personal  efficiency  in  the  serv- 
ice and  fellowship  of  God.  If  the  units  be  right,  the  results  are 
assured. 

While  scientific  investigations,  industrial  organizations,  social 
clubs,  and  community  experiments  may  be  proper  for  and  obligatory 
upon  members  of  the  Church,  they  are  outside  of  the  legitimate  use 
of  general  missionary  funds.  The  missionary  conquest  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  must  be  a  great  intellectual  as  well  as  a  great  spiritual 
struggle.  The  demand  is  for  larger  educational  and  administrative 
ability  and  greater  care  in  selecting  agents  who  are  called  and  con- 
secrated to  and  qualified  for  leadership.  The  necessity  is  for  strong 
personalities,  in  which  comprehensive  education  is  wedded  to  deep 
piety.  The  desultory  firing  of  an  extended  picket  line  has  given 
way  to  the  well-defined  and  compact  battle  lines  of  the  contending 
armies,  eager  for  the  inevitable  conflict.  Personal  valor  is  impor- 
tant ;  skill,  endurance,  organization,  generalship,  conservation  and 
utilization  of  force,  are  essential.  If  Churches  would  cooperate  with 
each  other,  combine  and  not  dissipate  their  funds,  supplement  each 


VALUE    OF   THE    STUDY    OF    MISSIONS.  145 

other's  activities,  be  as  eager  to  obey  the  commission  to  "Go, 
teach,"  as  they  are  to  avoid  difficulties  or  to  devote  their  energies 
to  nonessentials,  there  are  resources  enough  at  command  to  se- 
cure the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  cause  every 
knee  to  bow  and  every  tongue  to  confess  him  Lord  before  this 
dawning  century  shall  have  reached  high  noon. 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  STUDY  OF  MISSIONS  TO  COL- 
LEGE STUDENTS. 

REV.  A.   C.  MILLAR,  D.D. 

IF  the  inspired  history  had  closed  with  John's  Gospel,  the  Son 
of  Mary  had  been  considered  a  matchless  man,  a  wonder  worker, 
a  fervid  philosopher,  a  thrilling  teacher,  a  fearless  reformer,  bul 
a  self-deceived  seer,  a  dreamer  of  delusive  dreams.  Helped  by 
the  Floly  Spirit,  Luke  the  physician,  in  his  sequel  to  the  Gospels, 
portrays  the  divine  man  transforming  men,  his  work  maivelously 
multiplied,  his  philosophy  expounded,  his  teaching  applied,  his 
reformation  extended, his  prophecies  fulfilled, his  dreams  realized. 
The  feats  of  the  apostolic  age  lend  luster  to  the  Gospels,  create 
confidence  in  their  credibility,  and  furnish  fuel  for  missionary 
zeal.  The  valedictory  of  the  ascension  is  found  to  be  not  the 
desperate  defiance  of  defeated  fanaticism  but  the  dynamic  impera- 
tive of  triumphant  purpose,  broadening  and  deepening  as  it  is 
evermore  fulfilled. 

If  the  profane  historian  had  discovered  no  footprints  of  the 
Man  of  Sorrows  on  the  path  worn  dec])  by  the  heavy-laden,  the 
thrilling  "it  is  finished"  might  well  mean  merely  the  end  of  a  per- 
plexing tragedy  rather  than  the  exultant  accent  of  a  heroic  pas- 
sage in  the  epic  of  divinity:  the  acts  of  the  apostles,  the  memoirs 
of  mediaeval  martyrs,  and  the  records  of  more  recent  reformers 
authenticate  the  divine  origin,  validate  the  spiritual  mission, 
presage  the  perpetual  progress,  and  vindicate  the  heavenward 
hope  of  Christianity. 

The  value  of  the  study  of  these  things  to  strengthen  faith  and 
feed  evangelical  fire  is  beyond  peradventure.  Is  onlv  the  remote 


146  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

VIJ.I.AR.  p^  significant?     Must  men  be  seen  through  the  fogs  of  centu- 

ries to  seem  heroic?  Surely  the  century  of  steel  and  steam,  the 
century  of  electricity  and  type,  the  century  of  progress  and  phi- 
lanthropy, has  saints  and  sacrifices  as  well  as  sinners  and  secular 
success.  Probably  no  reputable  historian  of  any  period  of  the 
Christian  era  utterly  ignores  the  facts  of  missionary  history,  but 
too  often  they  are  treated  as  mere  incidents,  and  their  significance 
is  not  appreciated.  The  worldly  ecclesiastic  or  crafty  priest, 
rather  than  the  consecrated  ambassador  of  peace,  is  shown.  The 
deeds  of  kings  and  heroes,  the  intrigues  of  courts,  the  conflicts  of 
camps,  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  all  these  (and  they  are  not 
unworthy  of  consideration)  have  been  the  engrossing  themes  of 
the  historian  and  subjects  for  the  schools.  If  the  mythology  of 

ancient  Greece  and  Rome  is  fit  to  form  the  youthful  mind,  if  the 
Mythojogy  vs. 

mission*.  erotic  strains  of  Sappho,  the  choral  odes  of  Pindar,  the  quips  of 

Plantus,  the  fantasies  of  Ovid,  the  stinging  satire  of  Horace,  and 
the  gibes  of  Juvenal  are  food  convenient  for  the  adolescent  stu- 
dent— surely  the  annals  of  militant  saints  and  the  victories  of  vir- 
tue may  safely  be  presented.  If  mathematics  is  used  to  secure 
rigorous  reasoning,  if  language  is  taught  to  cultivate  felicitous 
expression,  if  science  is  pursued  to  stimulate  accurate  investiga- 
tion, if  sociology  is  affected  to  liberalize  thinking,  if  history  is 
mastered  to  increase  interpretive  power,  and  ethics  to  humanize 
conduct — verily  there  may  be  virtue  in  communing  with  the 
choice  spirits  by  whose  mathematics  the  things  that  were  gained 
were  counted  loss  for  Christ,  in  whose  language  the  tongues  of 
men  and  angels  lacking  love  were  sounding  brass,  whose  knowl- 
edge does  not  puff  up,  whose  pure  and  undefiled  religion  was 
exemplified  in  seeking  the  lost,  who  knowing  to  do  good  were 
not  slack  in  performance,  and  looking  into  the  perfect  law  of 
liberty  continued  steadfast  therein. 

The  study  of  missions,  whether  of  apostolic,  mediaeval,  or  mod- 
ern times,  is  far  more  worthy  in  subject  matter  than  many  studies 
that  have  long  held  a  place  in  the  college  curriculum.  The  value 
for  informing  the  mind  and  inspiring  the  heart  can  hardly  be 
questioned.  The  same  class  methods  used  for  teaching  purely 
secular  history  and  biography  would  serve  in  teaching  missions. 
The  subject  is  admirably  adapted  to  presentation  by  lecture,  and 
there  are  many  excellent  books  that  could  be  used  in  part  at 
least.  Very  soon  others  growing  out  of  class  lectures  would  be 


VALUE    OF    THE    STUDY    OF    MISSIONS.  147 

written.  The  literature  of  missions,  already  voluminous  and  MI"-AK- 
varied,  is  increasing  rapidly.  Missionary  effort  as  connected  with 
commerce  in  India  and  China,  with  exploration  in  Africa,  with 
diplomacy  in  Japan,  with  education,  medical  work,  and  the  trans- 
lation of  Holy  Scripture  in  nearly  all  lands,  and  with  the  romantic 
transformation  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  gives  a  variety  and  rich- 
ness unsurpassed  in  any  other  field  of  human  endeavor. 

As  a  potent  factor  in  the  social  and  economic  progress  of  the 
world  Christianity  may  not  now  be  ignored  even  by  the  purely 
secular  institution ;  much  less   can  the  denominational  college,  A  potent 
established  to  promote  learning  under  the  most  wholesome  influ-   factor  ^ 
ences  and  in  the  purest  spiritual  atmosphere,  even  if  not  directly 
a  propaganda  of  the  faith,  afford  to  neglect  a  subject  so  vitally 
connected  with  its  own  history  and  so  necessary  to  its  perpetuity. 

The  summary  of  the  whole  law  as  given  by  our  Lord  is  to  love 
God  supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  These  command- 
ments, incarnated  and  exemplified  in  Christ,  were  intensified  and 
made  personal  in  his  thrilling  imperative :  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Directly  or  in- 
directly to  aid  men  to  understand  Christ's  mission  and  to  obey 
his  orders  is  the  prime  purpose  of  the  Christian  college.  Being 
a  radiating  center  of  Christian  influence,  if  the  Christian  college 
fails  first  to  grasp  and  then  to  enforce  the  full  significance  of  the 
great  commission,  there  is  little  hope  of  having  a  missionary 
Church.  The  following  statements,  requiring  only  a  brief  argu- 
ment for  support,  are  submitted  : 

1.  The  denominational  college,  founded  and  supported  bv  mis- 

.  .  .  Four 

sionary   spirit,  gathers   trom   religious   homes   the  choicest   and  coasidera- 

most  consecrated  youth.  tions- 

2.  These  young  people,  however  high  their  hopes  and  holy  their 
ambitions  at  college,  have  clearer  vision  and  more  definite  plans. 
Before  entering  college  they  do  not  sufficiently  understand  them- 
selves and  life's  work  to  decide  wisely.     After  graduation  cares 
and    burdens   rapidly   accumulate    and    the    day    of   opportunity 
passes. 

Until  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  began  to  present  rnis- 
s;onary  obligations  to  students  there  was  a  scarcity  of  candidates 
for  foreign  work.  Under  the  influence  of  this  mighty  spiritual 
movement,  projected  upon  our  best  life  at  a  critical  period,  a  host 
of  eager,  consecrated  youth  in  the  brief  space  of  fifteen  years  has 


148 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


challenged  the  wealth  of  the  Churches  to  do  the  Master's  bid- 
ding. In  order  that  these  zealous  youth  may  not  be  caught  up 
by  a  mere  whirlwind  of  enthusiasm,  they  should  have  ample  op- 
portunity, calmly  and  critically  and  under  the  wisest  leadership,  to 
study  their  own  qualifications  and  the  work  to  be  accomplished. 

3.  A  high  degree  of  preparation  is  necessary  for  the  prospec- 
tive foreign  missionary.     While  the  special  training  must  be 
given  in  theological  seminaries  and  mission  training  schools,  the 
general  work  may  properly  begin  in  college.     Courses  in  com- 
parative religion  and  philosophy,  in  sociology,  in  ethnology,  in 
the  geography  and  history  of  the  heathen  countries,  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  missionaries  and  explorers,  in  international  law  and  di- 
plomacy, may  be  offered  as  electives  and  made  profitable  to  the 
ordinary  student  as  culture  studies  and  invaluable  to  the  future 
missionary  in  suggesting  and  solving  practical  problems. 

4.  Not  only  are  missionaries  thus  secured  and  practically  pre- 
pared, but  others  who  will  not  go  but  who  will  be  leaders  at  home 
are  warmly  and  intelligently  enlisted.     Thus  through  her  most 
influential  men  the  whole  Church  will  be  connected  with  mission- 
ary work  and  deadly  apathy  may  be  shaken  off. 

In  a  recent  address  Mr.  F.  P.  Turner,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of 
the  Volunteer  Movement,  said :  "So  far  as  human  agencies  are 
concerned,  the  stability  of  the  missionary  enterprise  depends  on 
having  a  missionary  pastorate  in  the  home  Churches.  Not  only 
should  the  future  pastor  study  missions,  but  it  is  important  that 
those  who  are  to  become  lay  members  of  the  Churches  should  be 
enlisted.  How  much  easier  the  task  of  the  pastor  if  he  be  in- 
telligently supported  by  the  influential  lawyers,  doctors,  editors, 
and  business  men  of  his  parish !  The  force  of  missionaries  could 
be  greatly  increased  if  the  men  of  wealth  in  the  Churches  were 
giving  proportionately  of  their  great  incomes  for  this  work. 
Would  not  some  of  the  men  of  wealth  in  the  universities  be  led 
to  support  one  or  more  missionaries  if  they  were  induced  to  study 
missions  while  in  the  universities  ?" 

The  missionary  enterprise  and  international  politics  are  close- 
ly related.  "Missionaries  run  the  risk,"  said  a  statesman  recent- 
ly,  "of  producing  terrible  events  on  a  gigantic  scale  because  thcir 
position  is  closely  mixed  up  with  that  of  secular  powers.  No  doubt 
missionaries  and  their  work  are  unpopular  at  many  foreign  offices. 
It  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  therefore,  that  the  future  Ameri- 


VALUE    OF   THE    STUDY    OF    MISSIONS.  149 

can  ministers,  ambassadors,  consuls,  officers  of  the  armies  and 
navies,  and  other  officials  of  Christian  nations  have  a  sympa- 
thetic knowledge  of  missions.  And  when  have  our  student 
movements  a  better  opportunity  than  while  these  men  are  stu- 
dents?" 

The  suggestion  of  college  courses  in  missions  is  the  outgrowth 
of  interest  awakened  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  The 
volunteers  early  formed  themselves  into  bands,  which  at  first  de- 
vised their  own  programmes.  In  time  regular  courses  were  for- 
mulated by  the  leaders,  and  these  are  now  studied  by  nearly  all 
volunteers  in  about  five  hundred  institutions.  For  the  current, 
scholastic  year  the  studies  have  been  based  on  Mott's  Evangeliza- 
tion of  the  World  in  This  Generation, "and  "Protestant  Missions  in 
South  America,"  by  H.  P.  Beach  and  others.  All  of  this  work  has 
been  outside  of  the  regular  college  studies  and  is  carried  on  as  a 
distinctly  religious  endeavor.  Some  years  ago  efforts  were  made 
to  introduce  courses  in  missions  into  the  curriculum  of  the  theo- 
logical seminaries.  At  the  third  International  Convention  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,  held  at 
Cleveland  in  1898,  Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  President  of 
I'nion  Theological  Seminary,  in  discussing  the  subject  offered  Dr.  Hail 
four  propositions  as  follows  : 

1.  That  the  hope  of  large  extension  of  missions  in  the  nea- 
future  chiefly  rests  upon  the  cooperation  of  the  student  class. 

2.  That  the  period  of  academic  life  contains  the  influences  tha; 
are  likely  to  give  direction  to  the  tastes  and  sympathies  of  later 
years. 

3.  That  the  predominant  influences  of  the  college  and  semi- 
nary life  are  not  those  which  would  naturally  direct  the  mind  to- 
ward the  subject  of  world-wide  evangelization. 

4.  That  larger  opportunity  for  the  study  of  missions  in  col- 
lege and  seminary  may  reasonably  be  advocated. 

In  discussing  the  third  proposition,  Dr.  Hall,  speaking  of  the 
development  of  higher  education,  forcibly  says  :  "By  the  increas- 
ing importance  attached  to  the  study  of  comparative  religion, 
by  the  marked  attention  paid  to  the  philosophy  of  religion,  and 
by  the  thorough  treatment  of  sociology  the  .student  who  thinks 
is  encouraged  to  make  a  larger  and  larger  induction  in  determin- 
ing his  doctrine  of  living  and  in  electing  his  specific  vocation. 
But  when  all  this  has  been  said  it  remains  true  that  there  is  little 


I5O  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MIM.AR.  jn  ^5  college  curriculum,  and  more  recently  there  has  been  com- 

paratively little  in  his  seminary  curriculum,  to  direct  his  attention 
upon  missions  and  to  give  him  such  broad,  accurate,  and  modern 
information  as  would  lead  him  to  include  the  subject  of  world- 
wide evangelization  in  that  rational  induction  which  should  be 
made  before  he  decides  what  to  do  with  his  life.  On  the  contrary, 
this  great  department  of  knowledge,  possessing  a  literature  of 
its  own  and  connecting  itself  by  the  most  important  ties  with 
the  life  of  nations,  as  well  as  with  the  life  of  Churches,  has  not  yet 
received  in  the  college  curriculum  the  place  to  which  it  is  entitled, 
and  has  not  yet,  even  in  the  seminary  curriculum,  generally  been 
treated  with  the  honor  that  is  its  due.  And  the  mind  of  the 

student,  instead  of  being  strongly  attached  to  the  subject,  has 
Comparative-  °  J  J 

religions.  been  systematically  diverted  from  it.    By  this  I  do  not  mean  that 

our  Christian  colleges  and  seminaries  have  excluded  the  study 
of  missions;  but  they  have  in  some  degree  omitted  to  make- 
provision  for  that  study,  in  consequence  of  which  omission  the 
predominant  influences  of  the  college  and  seminary  Hie,  how- 
ever excellent  in  themselves,  are  not  those  that  would  natural!  v 
direct  the  mind  to  the  subject  of  world-wide  evangelization.  This 
i-  true  of  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences,  of  the  classics,  of  po- 
litical economy,  of  literature,  of  systematic  theology,  and  even  of 
Church  history.  Through  no  one  of  those  channels  of  discipline 
is  the  mind  of  the  student  necessarily  brought  to  see  and  to  feel 
the  tremendous  phenomena  of  heathenism;  through  no  one  of 
them  is  his  ear  necessarily  quickened  to  hear  that  exceedingly 
bitter  cry  of  Christless  souls  vainly  seeking  the  consolation  which 
man's  nature  requires,  in  faiths  that  cannot  feed  the  deepest  life. 
The  student  may  be  the  most  earnest  of  persons,  he  may  be  the 
most  sincere  of  Christ's  disciples,  he  may  honestly  desire  to  do 
God's  bidding  and  to  consecrate  his  life  for  the  most  effective 
service  ;  but  if  in  the  seats  of  learning  whither  he  goes  to  prepare 
for  life  he  finds  none  to  unfold  before  him  tin  science  of  tin- 
•-vorld's  evangelization,  none  to  point  out  to  him  the  condition 
of  the  non-Christian  world,  none  to  inform  him  of  what  has  been 
done,  of  what  is  doing,  of  what  needs  to  be  done,  to  take  Christ 
to  the  world  and  to  bring  the  world  to  Christ- — if  instead  of  burn- 
ing speech  and  illuminating  instruction  upon  this  theme  he  finds 
a  heavy  veil  of  silence  let  down  before  it  as  if  there  were  no  such 
thing  upon  the  heart  of  Christ  as  the  world'?  redemption,  can  any 


VALUE    OF   THE    STUDY    OF    MISSIONS.  151 

one  say  that  the  student  has  had  full  opportunity  to  make  his  own    -iILI-AR- 
induction  and  to  determine  what  we  shall  do  with  his  life  ?" 

At  a  conference  of  presidents,  professors,  and  instructors  in 
colleges  and  theological  seminaries  held  during  this  Cleveland 
Convention  like  sentiments  and  opinions  were  freely  expressed. 

Prof.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  of  McCormick  Theological  Seminary, 
Presbyterian,  said  :  "After  the  forcible  address  given  by  Dr.  Hall 
I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  thought  that  we  as  instructors  occupy  Expert  te6ti- 
positions  of  strategic  importance,  since  from  us  largely  the  stu- 
dents  are  to  receive  that  impression  which  will  either  encourage 
them  to  reach  conclusions  or  dampen  their  enthusiasm  for  mis- 
sions." 

Prof.  W.  F.  Oldham,  of  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  Methodist, 
said :  "It  is  my  great  pleasure  to  be  connected  with  an  institu- 
tion in  which  the  department  of  missions  and  the  comparative 
study  of  religion  has  already  been  inaugurated.  Its  work  is  elec- 
tive, but  of  the  entire  number  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  Fresh- 
men two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  chose  from  two  to  eight  hours 
in  this  special  department.  With  undergraduates  the  study  of 
comparative  religion  must  be  made  elementary.  In  order  to 
have  a  basis  for  the  comparison  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  intro- 
duce the  careful  study  of  the  English  Bible.  I  find  myself  more 
and  more  forced  out  of  my  legitimate  department  into  really 
teaching  Christianity,  in  order  that  I  may  through  that  teaching- 
get  that  with  which  to  compare  other  things.  But  we  give  two 
hours  a  week  definitely  to  the  study  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise. There  are  few  available  text-books,  but  with  assigned 
reading  and  oral  lectures  I  can  testify  that  the  history  of  missions 
can  be  made  the  most  stimulating  and  the  most  interesting  studv 
of  the  undergraduate  course.  Such  courses  may  wisely  be  in- 
troduced into  any  of  our  schools.  \Yhere  it  may  not  be  possible 
to  introduce  at  once  a  chair  of  missions,  we  might  have  at  least  a 
monthly  lectureship.  A  living  lecturer  will  accomplish  for  any 
school  a  thousandfold  more  than  any  literature  you  can  send. 
There  are  two  propositions  which  I  would  urge:  First,  to 
suggest  to  the  governing  board?  of  our  Christian  colleges  thai 
they  establish  a  department  of  teaching  that  will  afford  an  op- 
portunity to  master  the  history  of  our  missionary  enterprises 
Secondly,  if  they  be  not  able  to  endow  professorships — and  mam 
of  the  schools  are  not  able — that  thev  mve  their  attention  i<. 


IS2  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

creating  lectureships,  in  which  half  a  dozen  men  may  be 
consecutively  employed  in  going  from  school  to  school,  setting  a 
torch  to  the  material  that  is  there,  and  leaving  a  blaze  behind.'' 

Prof.  E.  C.  Dargan,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Semi- 
nary, said :  "I  do  not  know  whether  we  are  quite  prepared  to  estab- 
lish a  special  chair  in  missions.  To  establish  such  a  chair  in  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  you  must  either  suppplant  something  now  in  the 
course  or  add  something  to  it.  If  the  courses  as  at  present  are 
sufficient,  then  to  add  a  separate  chair  will  make  the  curriculum 
too  heavy  and  too  long.  If  you  are  to  supplant,  what  will  you 
supplant?  It  may  be  made  elective,  and  that  is  the  case  with  us. 
We  have  a  system  of  special  classes  which  are  a  sort  of  upstairs 
to  all  our  other  departments." 

Prof.  W.  D.  McKenzie,  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary, 
after  speaking  of  the  Duff  missionary  professorship  of  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  said:  "In  our  own  seminary  the  professor  of  Churcli 
history  takes  up  this  work.  Last  year  he  made  an  elective  course- 
in  Warneck's  book.  I  think  from  a  personal  point  of  view  mis- 
sionary instruction  is  of  enormous  importance  alike  in  the  col- 
lege and  in  the  seminary." 

Prof.  Chalmers  Martin,  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary, 
Presbyterian,  said  :  "We  have  had  for  several  years  a  required 
course  in  missions  one  hour  a  week.  It  is  divided  between  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty,  and  aims  to  be  fundamental.  It  consists  of 
missionary  biographies.  It  begins  with  the  philosophy  of  mis- 
sions exclusive  of  the  claim  of  Christianity  as  the  religion,  and 
proceeds  to  the  biblical  history  of  missions,  the  evangelistic  ido.i 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  St.  Paul  in  the  new,  and  generally  the 
biblical  doctrines  of  missions.  Then  the  history  of  missions  is 
taken  up  ;  apostolic,  mediaeval,  and  modern  missions  are  studied, 
and  the  course  is  closed  by  a  professor  of  practical  theology  who 
is  a  member  of  our  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  with  a  series  of 
lectures  on  the  practical  questions  of  missions,  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Mission  Board  at  home,  on  the  conduct  of  missions 
abroad,  on  the  relation  of  the  missionary  to  the  Board  at  home 
and  the  mission  of  which  he  is  a  member  and  to  the  Church  pres- 
bytery in  the  bounds  of  which  he  may  be  laboring,  and  all  such 
practical  matters." 

In    adopting   resolutions    indorsing   the    Student    Volunteer 
Movement,    the    representatives    of   fifty    institutions    declared : 


VALUE    OF   THE   STUDY    OF    MISSIONS.  1 53 

"That  we  further  recognize  the  great  importance  of  introducing  MH.I.AK. 
in  some  definite  way  the  study  of  the  subject  of  missions,  under 
well-qualified  instruction  in  the  theological  seminaries,  and  like- 
wise the  propriety  of  giving  to  its  historical  treatment  a  place  in 
our  college  curricula,  either  in  the  form  of  annual  lectures  or  as 
an  elective." 

These  copious  extracts  are  given  because  recent  correspond- 
ence with  representatives  of  many  colleges  has  failed  to  elicit 
fuller  or  more  definite  information.  Practically  all  the  colleges 
have  more  or  less  of  mission  study  by  volunteer  bands.  Most  of  * 
the  theological  seminaries,  in  addition  to  the  missionary  study 
involved  in  Church  history,  provide  lectures  and  elective  courses. 
Few  colleges  give  any  kind  of  course  in  missions.  Several  great 
universities  offer  electives  in  sociology,  ethnology,  history,  and 
comparative  religion  and  philosophy,  but  the  motive  is  to  pro- 
mote their  own  interests  rather  than  to  create  missionary  zeal. 

In  our  Southern  Methodist  colleges,  which  as  yet  on  account 
of  poverty  are  offering  very  meager  courses  in  history  and  the 
Bible,  another  course  as  new  and  untried  as  the  study  of  mis- 
sions may  seem  to  be  an  impossibility.  However,  if  the  Church 
lacks  strong  missionary  enthusiasm  and  the  colleges  are  the 
originating  and  radiating  centers  of  the  holiest  influences,  the  men 
w.h.o  have  already  been  making  brick  without  straw  must  rise  a 
little  earlier,  pray  more  fervently,  and  take  up  the  new  task  not 
reluctantly,  but  with  the  joy  that  the  faithful  follower  of  the  di- 
vine Burden  Bearer  feels  when  opportunity  opens  a  better  way  to 
point  men  to  the  Lamb  of  God. 

What  may  reasonably  be  expected? 

1.  Even  in  the  small  unendowed  colleges,  in  connection  with 
the  department  of  history  and  philosophy,  one  hour  a  week  may 
be  given  to  an  elective  course  in  missionary  study. 

2.  In  the  stronger  institutions  more  and  broader  courses  may 
be  given  and  in  time  a  chair  of  missions  may  be  established. 

3.  Our  Board  of  Missions  and  our  General  Board  of  Educa- 
tion,   cooperating,   may   support   a   special   missionary   lecturer 
whose  duty  it  would  be  to  visit  each  college  once  a  year  for  the 
purpose  of  delivering  a  series  of  missionary  lectures.     About  :; 
week  might  be  spent  in  each  college. 

"Knowledge  is  power."     Let  us  fill  the  choicest  youth  of  our 


154  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Church  with  the  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so 
that  some,  separated  for  the  direct  work,  may  be  thrust  forth  by 
the  Spirit,  while  those  who  remain  at  home,  having-  the  same 
knowledge,  may  be  filled  with  the  same  spirit  and,  uniting  wisdom 
and  wealth  and  consecrated  power,  may  form  one  united  host  in 
preparing  the  world  to  crown  Christ  Lord  of  all. 


WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  WORK. 

MISS    MARIA    L.    GIBSON. 

THE  message  of  the  incarnation  breathing  into  th'c  souls  of  the 
world  a  knowledge  of  the  depth  and  sweetness  of  redeeming 
love  is  a  revelation  of  the  value  of  man  in  the  sight  of  God.  The 
evangel  of  the  resurrection,  exalting  the  soul  with  a  sense  of 
power  imparted  by  our  risen  Lord,  is  a  revelation  of  divine  maj- 
esty and  a  prefiguring  of  the  time  when  love's  redemptive  work 
shall  be  complete  and  "at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 
bow." 

Quickened  by  this  power,  confident  of  victory  in  his  name, 
the  messengers  of  Jesus  have  obeyed  his  command  conveyed  in 
his  last  commission.  Salvation  through  the  atonement  of  Jesus, 
the  Christ,  is  their  theme  to  a  lost  world.  Seek  we  to  know  the 
responsibility  of  woman  in  Christendom,  free,  happy,  beloved, 
toward  her  unhappy  heathen  sisters,  enslaved,  wretched,  un- 
loved ?  Let  the  Scotch  poet  give  answer : 

What  live  \ve  for  but  this? 

Into  the  soul  to  breathe  the  soul  of  sweetness; 

The  stunted  growth  to  rear  to  fair  completeness, 

Drown  sneers  in  smiles,  kill  hatred  with  a  kiss, 

And  to  the  sandy  waste  bequeath  the  fame 

That  the  flowers  bloomed  behind  us  where  we  came. 

The  heathen  world  is  filled  with  stunted  growths.  Woman 
from  infancy  to  age  is  shackled  by  custom  and  caste,  degraded 
by  ignorance  and  superstition,  oppressed  and  crushed  under  the 
curse  of  heathendom.  There  are  stunted  growths  in  other  lands 
— women  illiterate  and  immoral,  \vlio  worship  images  and  saints, 


WOMAN  S    EDUCATIONAL    WORK.  155 

exalting  them  to  the  sphere  where  God  alone  should  reign.  M1S-S 
These  women  hay.  no  knowledge  of  a  pitying;;  God,  our  Father; 
of  a  living,  loving  Christ,  who  should  be  king  of  their  lives ;  of  a 
gracious  Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost.  Who  can.  who  will  loose 
the  shackles,  inspire  the  hopeless,  free  heathen  and  non-Christian 
womanhood  from  the  dominion  of  the  curse?  Who  can,  who  will 
•develop  the  stunted  growths  into  ''the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fullness  of  Christ  ?"  Who  can  so  well  as  Christian  woman- 
hood ?  It  is  eminently  fitting  that  woman  should  thus  honor  her 
Lord.  "It  is  eminently  fitting,  it  is  blessed  compensation,  it  is 
divine  retribution  that  she  who  brought  sin  into  the  world  should 
also  bring  the  Saviour;  and  that  she  also  who  brought  the  Sav- 
iour should  in  these  last  days  further  on  the  finished  work  of 
salvation,  should  bring  the  top  stone  to  the  temple  with  shout- 
ings of  'Grace,  grace  unto  it  \' ''' 

Why  stress  the  educational  feature  in  this  woman's  work  for 
women  ?     Five  reasons  will  suffice  to  show  the  answers  which  The 
might  be  given  :  education. 

1.  The  two  most  potent  agencies  for  propagating  the  gospel 
and  for  educating  the  ignorant  are  the  living  voice  and  the  printed 
page.     In  the  schools  the  two  agencies  are  combined.     The  per- 
sonality of  the  teacher  and  the  power  of  the  schoolbook  together 
are  effective  weapons  in  vanquishing  ignorance  and  developing 
the  mind. 

2.  It  is  an  admitted  fact  that  the  first  work  of  the  missionary 
has  to  be  the  culture  of  some  degree  of  moral  sense,  and  that  his 
work  for  the  moral  culture  of  men  and  women  is  but  begun  when 
they  have  believed.     The  moral  sense  has  to  be  cultivated  con- 
tinuously.   The  Lord  Jesus,  when  he  said,  "Of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,"  gave  a  hint  as  to  the  time  of  saving  the  next 
generation — in  its  childhood.     The  Christian  teacher  nay  mold, 
according  to  the   \visdom    G<  >d   ha>   ^ivr-n    her.   <>;.<.-n    :•:]•!   vmn'nk1 
minds. 

3.  Christian  schools  give  to  the  pupils  a  Christian  vocabulary, 
which  makes  it  possible  for  them  all  through  their  lives  to  receive 
the  instruction  prqxired  for  them  in  sermons  and  books.     They 
do   still   more :   they   plant   in   their   susceptible   hearts   seeds   of 
heavenly  truth  that  may  bring  forth  rich  fruitage  in  after  years. 
In  day  schools  we  find  that  girls  going  from  clay  to  clay  to  their 
homes  with  words  of  Christian  truth  upon  their  lips  and  stories 


156 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS   GIBSON. 


What  it  does 
lor  the 
women. 


of  Christ's  love  and  power  in  their  hearts  are  preparing  the  way 
as  nothing  else  could  do  for  the  visits  of  the  missionaries  and  the 
Bible  women.  Mothers  all  the  world  over  welcome  those  who 
have  brought  good  gifts  unto  their  children. 

4.  It  is  estimated  that  one  billion  of  the  world's  inhabitants 
cannot  read.    The  heathen  world  must  be  Christianized  and  edu- 
cated by  the  natives.    In  elementary  schools  heathen  children  are 
trained  and  made  ready  for  higher  education,  so  that  they  may 
become  teachers.     In  papal  lands  ''the  Catholic  hierarchy  is  op- 
posed to  freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  worship,  free  govern- 
ment, a  free  press,  and  free  schools."    Mission  schools  teach  the 
truth  that  makes  God's  children  free  indeed,  place  allegiance  to 
Christ  higher  than  devotion  to  the  Church,  and  dispel  ignorance 
and  superstition  by  the  Word  of  God.     "The  entrance  of  thy 
wovd  giveth  light." 

5.  Educational  work  is  necessary  to  prepare  girls  for  life  and 
its  duties.    As  in  all  lands  but  those  distinctly  Christian  a  woman 
is  not  allowed  to  remain  unmarried,  the  pupils  must  be  prepared 
to  make  for  themselves  well-ordered  Christian  homes.    Through- 
out the  course  care  should  be  taken  not  to  unfit  a  girl  for  life 
among  her  own  people,  but  to  teach  her  the  duties  that  pertain 
to  the  home  most  thoroughly  and  systematically,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  cultivate  habits  of  order  and  cleanliness  quite  foreign  to 
the  home  and  life  from  which  she  has  come.     She  must  be  so 
drilled  in  all  these  things  that  fidelity  to  the  principles  involved 
will  be  a  necessary  part  of  her  life.     This  education  cannot  be 
secured  in  a  day  school,  hence  girls'  boarding  schools  have  be- 
c''ine  a  feature  in  woman's  work.     It  is  here  that  pupils  are  won 
for  Christ,  and  after  graduation  a  large  part  of  them  go  out  to 
engage  in  active  Christian  work  or  to  establish  Christian  homes 
as  centers  of  light  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  darkness. 

An  Eastern  proverb  says,  "The  ax  handle  is  of  wood ;  the  tree 
is  not  cut  down  save  by  a  branch  of  itself;"  hence  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  work  of  Christians  for  heathen  women  in  helping 
to  cut  away  the  roots  of  idolatry  has  become  a  component  part  of 
foreign  missions.  This  important  work  was  undertaken  first  by 
the  wives  of  missionaries,  and  in  later  years  single  women  aug- 
mcnte  1  the  working  force.  Shall  not  women's  boards  and  soci- 
eties to-day  offer  a  tribute  of  praise  to  God  for  the  lives  and  labor? 
of  these  pioneers  I3 


WOMAN  S    EDUCATIONAL   WORK.  157 

Mrs.  Marshman  organized  the  first  female  school  in  India  at  MISS  GIBSON- 
Serampore  in  1807,  and  before  1825  thirty  schools,  numbering 
four  hundred  pupils,  had  been  opened.  Miss  Whately,  daughter 
of  Archbishop  Whately,  of  England,  opened  a  school  for  girls  in 
Cairo,  Egypt,  in  1860.  Nine  years  later  her  friends  enabled  her 
to  erect  a  spacious  building,  and  the  number  of  her  pupils  had 
increased  to  six  hundred.  Miss  Whately  died  in  Egypt  in  1889, 
but  her  work  will  go  on  forever. 

The  opening  of  Presbyterian  missions  in  Mexico,  in  1864,  is  ac- 
credited to  Miss  Melinda  Rankin,whodid  pioneer  work  there  amid 
many  hardships  and  persecutions.  Did  time  permit,  women  from 
many  lands  might  claim  our  meed  of  praise.  In  our  beloved 
Church  we  love  to  honor  two  women,  with  us  yet,  who,  as  wives 
of  missionaries,  did  great  service  in  woman's  educational  work- 
in  China:  Mrs.  W.  G.  E.  Cunnyngham  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Lambuth, 
whose  husbands,  after  lives  of  royal  living  and  giving,  have  gone 
into  the  presence  of  the  King.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Cunnyngham  went 
to  China  in  1852,  and  soon  afterwards  Mrs.  Cunnyngham  opened 
a  day  school  for  little  girls,  paying  the  children  four  cash  a  day 
to  secure  attendance.  Her  visible  work  in  China  ended  in  1861, 
but  who  shall  estimate  its  results? 

Mrs.  Lambuth  has  spent  her  life  in  the  Orient,  thirty-two  years 
in  China  and  the  remainder  in  Japan.  She  is  regarded  as  the 
mother  of  our  school  work  in  China,  having  had,  in  God's  prov- 
idence,  the  opening  of  our  boarding  school  now  known  for  many 
years  as  Clopton  School — so  named  in  honor  of  the  mother  of 
Mrs.  McGavock,  first  Secretary  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  our  Church,  who  gave  her  diamonds  as  an 
offering  to  build  it.  For  twenty-eight  years  Mrs.  Lambuth  di- 
rected Clopton  School  and  laid  strong  foundations  for  schools 
for  girls  in  China.  A  doxology  sounds  throughout  our  Church 
that  God  has  so  signally  crow:ned  the  labors  of  these,  his  pioneer 
servants  in  our  missionary  work. 

As  a  sequence  to  this  individual  work,  and  answering'  to  the 
awakenings  in  heathen  and  Christian  lands,  Woman's  Missionary 
Societies  began  their  work.  It  would  be  interesting"  to  sketch 
the  educational  work  of  the  various  Boards  and  Woman's  For- 
eign Missionary  Societies,  but  the  limits  of  the  hour  forbid  detail. 

A  comparison  of  reports  of  various  societies  shows  that  every 
department  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  college  is  comprised  in 


158  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS   GIBSON. 


their  educational  work.  An  able  paper  by  Mrs.  John  R.  Mott  on 
"Higher  Education  for  Girls  in  Mission  Fields"  reviews  the 
movement  for  higher  education  of  women  in  all  lands,  discusses 
the  aim,  scope,  and  advantages  of  higher  education  of  girls  in 
mission  fields,  and  shows  that  there  are  to-day  in  the  mission  field 
forty-nine  institutions  for  women,  under  sixteen  Boards,  giving 
higher  education — about  three-fifths  of  the  whole  number  being 
found  under  three  Boards  :  the  Presbyterian,  American, and  Meth- 
odist Episcopal.  She  sums  up  the  results  as  follows :  (i)  Thou- 
sands of  women  have  been  thoroughly  educated.  (2)  The  over- 
whelming majority  have  gone  out  as  professed  Christians.  (3) 
These  schools  are  training  schools  for  Christian  leadership.  (4) 
They  are  supplying  Christian  teachers  and  leaders.  Industrial 
schools  are  also  included,  and  among  the  industries  taught  are 
needlework,  weaving,  lace-making,  carpet-making,  domestic 
work,  cooking,  gardening,  grinding,  vegetable  and  fowl  raising, 
and  farming. 

As  the  aim  of  all  these  schools,  elementary  or  college,  is  to 
develop  Christian  character  and  to  train  for  Christian  service 
among  the  natives,  we  find,  too,  the  same  principles  underlying 
Aim  of  school,  the  instruction  :  (i)  Thoroughness  in  work.  Whatever  is  taught 
must  be  taught  thoroughly,  not  only  for  the  result  in  knowledge 
but  for  the  effect  on  character.  (2)  Adaptability  to  the  environ- 
ments and  needs  of  the  pupils,  and  to  the  conditions  in  life  for 
which  they  are  to  be  fitted.  (3)  The  Bible  is  regarded  as  the 
foundation ;  Christianity  as  the  motive  power ;  Christian  charac- 
ter the  end  sought.  (4)  The  schools,  except  what  are  known  as 
charity  day  schools,  favor  some  payment,  no  matter  how  small, 
for  tuition.  This  is  stressed,  especially  in  schools  of  higher  grade, 
as  a  help  to  character-building. 

The  finest  illustration  of  woman's  work  for  foreign  missions 
that  has  ever  been  given  was  presented  on  Woman's  Day  at  the 
Ecumenical  Conference,  when,  at  the  afternoon  session,  four  hun- 
dred women  missionaries,  representing  forty-one  boards  and  so- 
cieties, passed  in  review  before  the  thousands  that  crowded  Car- 
negie Hall  to  do  them  honor;  and  at  the  evening  meeting,  as  a 
natural  sequence  to  the  first  assemblage,  there  was  on  the  same 
platform  what  might  be  termed  the  golden  fruitage  from  the 
seed  dispersed  by  those  women  missionaries — women  from  vari- 
ous lands  who  had  been  educated  and  brought  to  Christ  in  in  is- 


WOMAN'S  EIH-CATIOXAL  \\ORK.  159 

sion  schools  for  girls  maintained  by  the  Women's  Boards  of  For-  MISS  G1BSON- 
eign  Missions. 

Experience  has  taught  that  every  great  movement  is  the  crys- 
tallized thought  of  some  earnest,  enthusiastic  pioneer,  and  in  this 
educational  movement  in  foreign  missions  there  are  women  who 
will  ever  rank  among  master  builders,  for  the  work  they  have 
wrought  in  imperishable  material,  resulting  in  an  educated  Chris- 
tian womanhood,  steadily  growing,  in  non-Christian  lands.  A 
few  only  may  be  mentioned  :  Eliza  Agnew,  of  Ceylon,  ''the  mother 
of  a  thousand  daughters,"  who  taught  in  the  same  school  for  for- 
ty-one years,  during  which  six  hundred  girls  were  graduated, 
nearly  all  of  whom  had  come  to  her  from  heathen  homes  and 
every  one  of  whom  went  out  from  her  school  professing  Chris- 
tians ;  Miss  Isabella  Thoburn,  the  first  missionary  sent  out  by 
the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  1869,  and  who  stands  at  the  head  of  their 
educational  work  as  Principal  of  Lucknow  College  and  two  other 
girls'  schools  in  India;  Miss  Adele  Field,  of  the  Baptist  Board, 
who  has  done  such  noble  work  in  the  Training  School  for  Bible 
Women  in  Swatow,  China;  Miss  A.  F.  Safford,  of  Soochow, 
China,  who  wielded  a  marvelous  influence  over  the  Chinese  as 
a  representative  of  the  Presbyterian  Board ;  Miss  Laura  Hay- 
good,  of  the  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  whose  broad  and  catholic  spirit  com- 
bined with  mental  and  spiritual  gifts  to  make  her  an  ideal  mis- 
sionary; Mrs.  J.  W.  Lambuth,  of  whose  services  in  China  and 
Japan  mention  has  been  made;  Mrs.  Alice  Gordon  Gulick.  rep- 
resenting the  Congregational  Church,  Director  of  the  Interna- 
tional Institute  for  girls  in  Spain,  who  founded  a  school  for  girls 
in  San  Sebastian  in  1882,  out  of  which  the  Institute  has  grown. 
In  a  hired  house  in  San  Sebastian  Mrs.  Gulick  has  clone  a  won- 
derful work  for  women  in  Spain — a  land  where  at  the  last  census. 
in  1887,  sixty-eight  and  one-half  per  cent  of  the  people  were  illit- 
erate. The  graduates  of  that  school  are  now  teaching  three  thou- 
sand children  in  different  places.  Mrs.  Gulick  is  now  in  the 
l/nitcd  States  in  the  interest  of  the  school.  It  is  proposed  to 
transfer  the  International  Institute  to  Madrid,  and  an  appeal  is 
ir-ade  to  the  women  and  girls  of  America,  especially  to  the  stu- 
dents in  the  colleges  for  women  in  the  United  States,  to  con- 


l6o  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Women's  Boards  have  accepted  the  definition  of  education  as 
"a  debt  due  from  present  to  future  generations,"  and  have  already 
received  royal  dividends  on  the  funds  invested  to  pay  their  debt. 
Could  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi  equal  in  happiness  the  spiritual 
mothers  of  the  types  of  educated,  Christian  womanhood  out  of 
heathen  and  non-Christian  lands  who  are  now  teachers  and  evan- 
gelists, and  who  are  of  exceeding  value  as  prototypes  of  future 
generations  after  their  own  image  and  likeness  ?  A  few  of  world 
renown  must  suffice — for  example,  Layah  Barakat,  a  Maronite 
of  Syria,  educated  by  the  Presbyterian  Board.  At  mention  of 
her  name  a  picture  rises  before  me  of  her  eloquent,  Spirit-filled 
personality  pleading  in  the  name  of  Jesus  with  the  women  of  this 
free  land  to  give  to  her  unhappy  sisters  in  Syria  the  blessing  they 
had  secured  for  her.  Dr.  Hu  King  Eng,  of  China,  of  Christian 
parentage,  educated  under  the  influence  of  our  sister  society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  is  a  gifted  woman  who  has  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  two  continents,  and  who,  while  at  col- 
lege in  Ohio,  led  many  young  women  of  this  land  to  accept 
Christ,  among  whom  was  the  late  Miss  Maude  Simons,  who  after- 
wards became  a  missionary  to  Japan.  When  called  of  God  to 
offer  herself  as  a  missionary,  Miss  Simons  met  the  remonstrances 
of  her  friends  by  saying:  "It  took  one  from  a  heathen  land  to 
win  my  stubborn  heart ;  don't  you  think  that  my  heart  ought  to 
be  given  to  foreign  missions?"  Miss  Lilavati  Singh,  who  was 
educated  by  Miss  Thoburn,  graduated  from  Lucknow  College, 
and  afterwards  received  a  degree  in  the  Calcutta  University,  is  a 
most  attractive  type  of  Christian  womanhood.  Her  command  of 
English,  her  ability  as  a  speaker,  and  her  eloquence  in  pleading 
for  the  women  of  India  made  her  notable  at  the  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference in  New  York.  Since  her  return  to  India  Miss  Singh  has 
entered  the  service  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  a  missionary.  Pundita  Rama- 
bai.  the  learned  Brahmin,  a  royal-hearted  Christian,  the  God- 
appointed  rescuer  and  defender  of  child  widows  and  famine 
children,  who  has  won  the  respect  of  the  world  by  her  gifts 
and  grace,  is  another  of  India's  daughters — now  a  daughter  of 
our  King.  Does  it  seem  possible  that  such  women  as  these  last 
two  are  found  in  India,  where,  in  1830,  Dr.  Duff  said,  "You  might 
as  well  try  to  scale  a  wall  five  hundred  yards  high  as  to  attempt 
female  education  in  India  ?"  Do  we  need  better  evidence  that  the 


WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  WORK.  161 

woman's  educational  movement  is  of  God  ?  Has  our  own  Church  MISS  OIBSON- 
— our  own  Board — no  jewel  to  shine  as  its  star?  In  Brazil,  in 
Mexico  there  are  many  cultured  young  women,  graduates  of  our 
schools,  who  are  now  engaged  in  teaching,  and  winning  distinc- 
tion. There  is  also  in  the  United  States  now  an  earnest  young 
girl  from  McTyeire  School,  Shanghai,  daughter  of  one  of  our 
native  preachers,  himself  a  graduate  of  Vanderbilt  University, 
who  is  preparing  to  teach  in  China  on  her  return.  In  the  "Land  of 
the  Morning  Calm, "as  the  wife  of  Mr.  Yun,  the  Secretary  of  Edu- 
cation in  Korea,  a  lovely  Chinese  woman,  educated  in  Clopton 
School,  and  afterwards  in  McTyeire  School,  Shanghai,  is  a  jewel 
which  we  call  ours,  and  for  which  we  give  praise.  Her  mother's 
history,  so  closely  associated  with  the  ministries  of  Mrs.  Lam- 
buth,  is  well  known.  Cultured,  beautiful  in  person  and  in  char- 
acter, Mrs.  Yun  takes  rank  with  the  ladies  of  the  nobility  in 
Korea,  and  in  her  official  life  as  well  as  in  her  home  is  showing  the 
beauty  of  Christianity. 

From  its  inception  the  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  has  stressed  educational 
work.  Its  faith  in  the  power  of  education  as  an  evangelistic 
agency  is  shown  in  its  liberal  investment  in  real  estate,  buildings,  History, 
and  its  supply  of  missionaries  and  teachers  :  Missionaries  in  serv- 
ice of  the  Board  in  the  field,  58 ;  teachers,  59 ;  native  teachers,  43  ; 
assistants,  71;  boarding  schools,  17;  pupils,  2,256;  day  schools, 
61,  pupils,  1,957;  Bible  colleges,  2;  Bible  women,  33;  woman's 
class,  165;  kindergartens,  4;  value  of  school  buildings  owned 
by  the  Board,  $251,829. 

The  problems  encountered  are  varied.  The  fields  occupied  are 
China,  Brazil,  Mexico,  Korea,  Cuba,  and  the  wild  tribes  in  the 
Indian  Territory.  The  hindrances  met  are  ignorance,  supersti- 
tion, spiritual  lethargy,  corrupt  morals ;  the  one  aim,  to  over- 
come these  hindrances  through  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Educational  work  in  China  antedated  the  organization  of  the 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  two  years,  Mrs.  Lambuth 
having  opened  Clopton  School  in  iS/6.  The  present  work  of 
our  Board  includes  five  boarding  schools  and  thirty-five  day 
schools — total  pupils,  i.ooi.  Our  first  missionary,  Miss  Lochie 
Rankin.  has  charge  of  Pleasant  College  and  the  Anglo-Chinese 
School  at  Nantziang.  These  schools — the  Mary  Lambuth  School 
10 


l62  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS    GIBSON. 


in  Soochow  and  McTyeire  Home  and  School  in  Shanghai — are 
conducted  on  the  same  general  plan,  and  are  achieving  fine  re- 
china.  suits.  Clopton  and  McTyeire  may  be  taken  as  types.  Clopton 

School  remains  as  it  began — a  charity  boarding  school.  The 
instruction  is  given  wholly  in  Chinese,  and  so  thorough  is  the 
course  that  the  graduates  and  former  students  of  Clopton  School 
form  a  large  proportion  of  the  teachers  in  the  boarding  and  day 
schools  in  our  own  Church,  and  are  also  employed  in  those  of 
other  denominations. 

McTyeire  Home  and  School  may  be  termed  the  sequence  to 
the  great  work  inaugurated  in  Clopton  School.  Here  English 
as  well  as  Chinese  is  taught,  and  the  curriculum  is  equal  to  that 
of  a  high-grade  young  ladies'  seminary  in  the  United  States.  The 
pupils  are  girls  from  the  higher  classes  of  society  who  would  not 
patronize  a  charity  school.  McGavock  Memorial — a  fine  three- 
story  building  lately  erected — is  an  annex  to  McTyeire,  and  has 
doubled  its  capacity  and  usefulness. 

The  twentieth  century  thought  of  our  Board  for  China  is  the 
speedy  erection  of  the  Laura  Haygood  Home  and  School  and 
Cunnyngham  Chapel  at  Soochow  to  meet  the  forward  movement 
of  the  General  Board  in  planning  Soochow  University. 

Our  boarding  school — Carolina  Institute — has  been  opened  in 
Seoul,  Korea,  by  Mrs.  Campbell,  who  has  charge  of  the  work  of 

our  Board,  also  two  day  schools.     Besides  regular  instruction  in 
Ecrea. 

common  branches,  the  children  are  taught  cleanliness  and  sys- 
tem in  their  daily  life,  also  lessons  in  sewing  and  housework. 
They  are  also  taught  to  memorize  Scripture  daily,  and  to  engage 
in  morning  and  evening  services  of  prayer  and  song.  Thus  is  the 
good  seed  sown  by  Mrs.  Campbell  and  her  associates. 

Our  Woman's  Board  has  no  schools  in  Japan,  but  rejoices  in 
the  fine  educational  work  of  our  General  Board,  especially  that 
under  the  direction  of  the  women  :  the  Lambuth  Bible  Training 
and  Industrial  School,  and  the  Palmore  Institute  at  Kobe,  of 
which  Mrs.  Lambuth  has  been  in  charge  for  years,  and  the  Hiro- 
shima Girls'  School,  an  institute  of  high  grade,  Miss  Nannie  B. 
Gaines,  Principal.  These  schools  are  well  known  and  much  es- 
teemed for  thorough  Christian  and  educational  work. 

Educational  work  in  Brazil  was  begun  in  iSSi  by  Miss  M.  H. 
Watts,  first  missionary  of  our  Board  to  that  field,  who,  taking 
as  a  foundation  a  girls'  school  at  Piracicaba,  begun  by  the  Misses 


WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  WORK.  163 

Newman,  daughters  of  a  missionary,  began  to  build.  So  marked  MISS  GIBSON» 
was  her  success  that  the  Colegio  Piracicabano  has  won  the  re- 
spect and  admiration  of  men  high  in  State,  and  prepared  for  the  Bnril 
hearty  acceptance  of  other  boarding  schools  established  later. 
One  condition  of  admission  is  required :  that  pupils  study  the 
Bible  as  part  of  the  course.  Instruction  in  Portuguese  and  Eng- 
lish is  given,  and  music  and  art  have  a  place  in  the  curriculum. 
The  method  pursued  in  the  other  schools  of  the  Board  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  school  in  Piracicaba.  The  centers  occupied  as 
boarding  schools  are  Juiz  de  Fora  and  Petropolis.  Day  schools 
have  been  opened  recently  at  Ribeirao  Preto  and  Porto  Alegre. 
A  system  of  day  schools  established  by  Miss  Glenn  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro  promises  fine  results.  This  method  is  deemed  best  for 
Rio,  where  yellow  fever  endangers  the  work  of  boarding  schools. 
The  twentieth  century  thought  for  Brazil  is  the  erection  of  the 
Isabella  Hendrix  School  at  Juiz  de  Fora. 

Who  that  has  seen  Laredo  Seminary  beside  the  Rio  Grande, 
with  its  ten  buildings  and  fifteen  acres  of  land,  will  doubt  that 
the  blessing  of  God  has  rested  upon  the  work  begun  in  Mexico 
in  1881  by  our  first  missionary,  Miss  Rebecca  Toland,  who  is 
still  doing  work  for  our  Board  in  that  land?  Laredo  Seminary 
is  the  largest  boarding  school  under  the  Board,  and  the  model 

for  the   others   established   later.      It   includes   all   departments 

Mexico. 

from  the  kindergarten  through  the  college  course ;  also  bar- 
racks for  the  boys,  and  an  industrial  department  tending  to 
elevate  manual  labor  to  its  proper  position  in  character-build- 
ing. To  the  ability  and  faith  of  Miss  Nannie  Holding,  in  charge 
of  Laredo  Seminary  and  superintendent  of  the  work  in  Mexico, 
much  credit  must  be  given  for  the  success  attained.  Boarding 
schools  have  been  established  at  Saltillo.  Chihuahua.  San  Luis 
Potosi,  Guadalajara.  Durango.  and  City  of  Mexico.  Instruction 
is  given  in  English  and  Spanish.  In  Colegio  Ingles,  Saltillo.  in 
addition  to  the  usual  course,  a  year  of  normal  instruction  is  given 
to  supply  the  demand  for  Christian  graduates  capable  of  teaching 
grades  of  Spanish.  Students  educated  there  are  teaching  not 
only  in  mission  schools  but  also  in  the  public  schools  of  Mexico. 

A  crown  jewel  in  our  cluster  of  Christian  educational  institu- 
tions in  Mexico  is  to  be  our  twentieth  century  effort:  Mary 
Keener  Institute  and  S.  S.  Park  Chapel  in  the  City  of  Mexico. 

Since  1882  the  Board  has  had  a  boarding:  school  for  the  chil- 


164 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS   GIBSON. 


Indian  Terri- 
tory. 


Cuba. 


The  object. 


dren  of  the  wild  tribes  in  the  Indian  Territory.  The  purpose  is 
to  fit  Indian  girls  and  boys  for  Christian  civilization,  hence  Meth- 
vin  Institute  combines  literary  with  industrial  pursuits,  and  the 
results  on  character  have  been  encouraging.  This  Indian  work 
is  under  the  superintendence  of  Rev.  J.  J.  Methvin,  who  reports 
to  the  Board. 

Cuba  is  the  last  field  entered,  and  educational  work  is  still  in  its 
infancy.  Santiago,  Matanzas,  and  Havana  are  the  centers  occu- 
pied. The  Irene  Toland  School  is  a  beautiful  memorial  of  the 
noble  physician  who  died  at  Santiago  while  ministering  to  the 
sick  and  wounded  during  the  Spanish-American  war.  Our  twen- 
tieth century  gift  to  Cuba  will  be  the  Eliza  Bowman  School, 
in  Havana,  where  work  has  already  been  established  by  Miss 
Carson,  who  is  in  charge. 

This  is  but  a  sketch  in  outline  of  the  educational  work  of  the 
Board  begun  twenty-three  years  ago.  The  complete  picture 
would  bring  into  view  the  teacher  and  the  taught ;  the  never 
ceasing  influence  set  in  motion ;  the  hard,  everyday  living  that 
could  not  be  endured  for  education's  sake,  but  that  is  borne 
cheerfully  for  Jesus's  sake. 

Dr.  S.  H.  Wainright,  of  Japan,  well  says:  "The  mission 
school  is  a  gateway  through  which  the  best  culture  of  the  West 
finds  entrance  without  being  emasculated  of  every  spiritual  ele- 
ment. It  supplies  the  Christian  interpretation  in  the  study  of 
science,  literature,  history,  and  philosophy."  The  great  objective 
points  of  education  in  all  mission  fields,  says  one  of  our  thought- 
ful missionaries,  may  be  briefly  comprehended  under  three  heads  : 

1.  The  worship  of  God  to  displace  the  Worship  of  ancestors  or 
of  images. 

2.  Knowledge  to  displace  superstition. 

3.  The  elevation  of  woman  to  her  proper  sphere. 

Without  discussing  these  propositions,  it  follows  that  if  we 
would  convince  a  people  that  we  attach  the  same  importance  to 
the  education  of  woman  as  of  man,  the  schools  that  we  establish 
for  girls  must  be  as  good,  as  complete,  as  ample,  as  thoroughly 
furnished  as  those  for  boys.  More  than  that,  the  women  we  send 
out  as  teachers  must  be  as  cultured  and  well-equipped  as  the 
men  who  are  sent  to  do  like  work. 

Since  the  millions  of  children  of  the  heathen  Orient  and  the 
neglected  Southern  continents  who  are  now  plastic,  ready  to  be 


WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  WORK.  165 

molded,  are  to  be  idolaters  or  Christians  when  grown  to  man-  MISS  GIBSON- 
hood  and  womanhood,  how  important  is  the  work  of  education  in 
our  mission  schools !  how  vital  the  character  and  equipment  of 
the  teacher!  One  w'ho  speaks  out  of  her  own  experience  as  a 
missionary  says :  "She  should  not  only  be  equipped  in  the  sys- 
tem which  she  proposes  to  propagate,  but  she  should  take  pains 
Lo  be  educated  in  all  that  the  people  among  whom  she  is  to  labor 
consider  education,  in  order,  first,  to  win  the  esteem  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  secondly,  to  be  able  promptly  and  intelligently  to  acknowl- 
edge the  good  in  their  system  and  to  refute  the  errors ;  thirdly,  to 
discover  the  best  means  of  replacing  the  inferior  with  the  superior 
system,  which  may  be  done  most  easily  by  finding  the  points  com- 
mon to  both  systems,  accepting  any  glimpse  of  truth  as  an  ema- 
nation of  the  truth,  and  using  that  as  a  foundation  to  build  upon. 
The  ideal  teacher  finds  where  a  pupil  is  and  presents  to  him  the 
next  step,  not  the  last  step  that  awaits  him." 

Our  judgment  must  approve  this  sensible  utterance.  If  we 
send  a  missionary  to  China  who  knows  nothing  of  Confucianism, 
how  can  she  converse  intelligently  with  a  Confucianist  with  the  our  misBiona- 
view  to  gradually  leading  him  along  the  lines  of  his  own  mental  *ld 
processes,  without  offense  to  what  he  holds  dear,  into  broader 
avenues  of  thought?  We  send  missionaries  to  Mexico,  Cuba, 
and  Brazil.  Let  one  go  who  knows  nothing  of  the  tenets  of 
Romanism  and  the  differences  of  faith,  who  has  possibly  never  at- 
tended a  service  in  a  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  has  never  heard 
a  mass :  how  can  she  hope  to  show  the  errors  of  a  perverted  faith 
in  papal  lands,  where  ignorance  is  indeed  "the  mother  of  devo- 
tion?" How  can  she  say,  "This  is  not  what  your  faith  sets  forth,' 
or  explain  to  a  seeker  after  light  where  and  on  what  point  Protes- 
tantism leaves  Catholicism?  If  she  is  not  familiar  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  Christian  Church,  how  can  she  answer  the  question 
so  often  asked,  "What  is  a  Protestant?"  and  asked  by  people  who 
never  heard  of  the  Reformation. 

The  initial  years  of  all  new  movements  present  problems  which 
after  years  must  solve.  In  the  beginning'  of  this  era  of  mission- 
ary effort  the  missionaries  were  ordained  ministers  who  by  reason 
of  their  theological  training"  \verc  able  to  instruct  inquirers  ;  but 
when,  in  the  providence  of  God,  entrance  was  given  to  woman 
there  followed  a  multitude  of  men  and  women  not  only  unor- 
dained  but  unprepared  for  the  grace,  duties,  and  high  responsi- 


i66 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS    GIBSON. 


The  training 
school. 


bilities  of  missionary  life.  That  kind  of  seed-sowing  has  borne 
fruit  after  its  kind.  Now  Boards  have  grown  wiser  and  have 
advanced  the  standard  of  scholarship.  Now  the  merits  of 
the  candidates  are  weighed,  their  health,  mental  and  physical, 
is  considered,  moral  character  investigated,  personal  habits, 
temper,  adaptability  to  surroundings,  capability  for  acquiring  lan- 
guages, ability  to  impart  knowledge,  and  every  other  item  that 
would  prove  a  factor  in  determining  the  usefulness  of  a  mission- 
ary, are  carefully  considered  before  a  candidate  is  accepted.  Ex- 
perience has  taught  our  Board  two  other  truths :  First,  that  the 
call  of  God  to  a  missionary  candidate  means  a  call  to  preparation; 
secondly,  that  the  period  of  testing  would  better  be  spent  in  this 
country.  This  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  missionary  train- 
ing schools  as  a  part  of  woman's  educational  work  for  foreign 
missions. 

In  September,  1892,  the  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  established  a  training  school 
for  this  purpose,  which  has  since  expanded  until  it  seeks  to  train 
not  only  foreign  missionaries,  but  all  Christian  women  who  seek 
to  fit  themselves  for  the  service  of  God  anywhere,  including  nurs- 
es, for  which  purpose  a  small  hospital  is  one  department  of  the 
institution. 

The  Scarritt  Bible  and  Training  School  for  Missionaries  and 
Other  Christian  Workers,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  is  the  property  of  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  which  controls  it  through 
a  Board  of  Managers  of  which  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix  is  Presi- 
dent. Two  officers  of  the  Board  are  principal  and  Bible  teach- 
er. The  school  stands  as  a  memorial  of  woman's  faith  and  man's 
deeds,  as  through  the  generous  gift  of  herself  for  several  years 
Miss  Belle  H.  Bennett,  Richmond,  Ky.,  won  for  the  new  enter- 
prise a  place  in  the  heart  of  the  Church,  and  for  its  foundation  and 
support  nearly  $100,000,  while  through  the  gift  of  the  late  Rev. 
Nathan  Scarritt,  D.D.,  of  a  building  site  and  $25,000,  the  project 
was  hastened  and  the  building  speedily  assured. 

As  the  aim,  scope,  and  course  of  study  of  all  missionary  training 
schools  are  practically  identical,  an  outline  of  our  educational 
work  will  prove  an  index  to  the  work  of  others,  of  which  ours 
is  a  type.  There  are  in  it  seven  departments  : 

i.  The  Department  of  Bible  Study. 


WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  WORK.  167 

2.  The  Department  of  Moral  Philosophy,  Christian  Evidences  MISS  OIBSOW- 
and  Doctrines. 

3.  The  Department  of  Church  History,  including  the  history  of 
missions. 

4.  The  Department  of  Nurse-Training,  including  instruction  in 
elementary  medicine. 

5.  Industrial  Department,  including  domestic  economy  and  the 
art  of  housekeeping. 

&  Scarritt  Bible 

6.  Department   of    City   Missions,    including   house-to-house  school. 
visitation,  religious   meetings,   methods   of  work,   and   sewing 
school. 

7.  General  instruction,  embracing  music,  bookkeeping,  parlia- 
mentary rules,  and  conduct  of  business  meetings. 

In  general  we  speak  of  two  departments,  the  Bible  Depart- 
ment and  the  Nurse-Training  Department.  The  former  includes 
six  of  the  departments  mentioned  above,  while  the  latter  is  ex- 
clusively for  nurses. 

The  courses  in  these  two  departments  are  separate,  and  each 
requires  two  years  for  graduation.  In  the  Bible  Department  the 
Bible  is  the  central  text-book,  for  we  believe  that,  more  than  any 
other  equipment,  the  missionary  needs  knowledge  of  the  English 
Bible.  That  missionaries  themselves  feel  the  need  of  this1  knowl- 
edge is  evidenced  in  the  recent  establishment  in  New  Jersey  of 
a  Bible  Teacher's  College,  which,  while  open  to  others,  has  in 
mind  the  special  instruction  of  missionaries  at  home  on  furlough. 

Our  Training  School  has  for  its  object  to  equip  our  students  as 
thoroughly  as  possible  in  knowledge  and  use  of  the  English  Bi- 
ble. A  graduate  of  our  school  in  crossing  the  Pacific  to  her  field 
of  labor  was  met  by  an  agnostic  who  plied  her  with  what  he 
deemed  unanswerable  questions  concerning  the  Bible  and  eternal 
verities ;  but  out  of  the  instruction  she  had  received  on  these 
points  while  in  the  Training-  School  she  was  enabled  to  answer 
them  all,  much  to  his  surprise. 

The  doctrines  taught  in  the  Bible,  Christian  evidences  and 
Christian  ethics,  as  well  as  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church, 
are  all  studied  carefully. 

A  knowledge  of  elementary  medicine  and  nursing  is  given  be- 
cause in  the  mission  field  the  teacher  must  do  the  work  in  child- 
training  which  usually  falls  within  the  province  of  the  home  ; 
must  care  for  the  bodies  of  the  children  ;  teach  them  proper  hab- 


i68 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS    GIBSON. 


The  medical 
department. 


its,  even  of  personal  cleanliness.  Students  need  to  know  the 
laws  of  health  that  they  may  observe  them  and  teach  others  the 
value  and  beauty  of  a  normal  physical  condition.  They  are  also 
instructed  in  systematic  and  orderly  methods  of  domestic  work, 
that  they  may  teach  others. 

Through  city  mission  work  knowledge  of  human  nature,  in- 
crease of  sympathy,  tact,  and  ease  of  expression  are  gained. 
Humanity's  longings  and  deeper  needs  are  the  same  in  civiliza- 
tion as  in  barbarianism ;  the  plan  of  salvation  is  the  same  wheth- 
er told  in  English,  Spanish,  or  Chinese,  and  personal  work  under 
the  supervision  of  the  pastors  and  teachers  while  in  training  is 
the  best  possible  preparation  for  soul-winning  in  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  The  woman  who  shrinks  with  aversion  from  the  filthy 
and  vermin-infested  dwellers  in  the  city  slums  must  by  the  grace 
of  God  gain  the  victory  over  that  feeling  through  the  infilling  of 
Christ's  love  and  sympathy  for  poor  human  nature  before  she  is 
prepared  to  go  to  Brazil  or  China  or  Africa,  where  worse  con- 
ditions await  her.  Her  city  mission  work  is  a  test  which  she 
must  meet,  or  she  has  no  warrant  to  expect  success  in  the  region 
beyond. 

Life  in  the  Training  School  dispels  all  visionary  or  romantic 
views  of  mission  life.  It  also  seeks  to  encourage  the  timid  and 
to  lessen  self-conceit  and  self-seeking.  Perfection  cannot  be  at- 
tained in  two  years ;  but  "self-knowledge,"  in  a  measure,  is 
gained,  "self-reverence"  counseled,  "self-control"  required,  and 
as  the  poet  sings :  "These  three  lead  life  to  sovereign  power." 
Twenty-five  former  students  have  entered  the  service  of  this 
Board,  one  is  serving  our  Board  in  Japan,  and  ten  are  accepted 
and  recommended  to  the  Board  in  annual  session  for  appoint- 
ment. 

We  have  considered  the  question,  Why  stress  educational  work 
in  heathen  and  papal  lands?  we  have  endeavored  to  show  what 
women's  boards  and  societies  are  seeking  to  do  through  their 
representatives  in  elementary  schools  and  colleges.  We  have 
taken  as  a  type  the  work  of  the  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions in  the  great  Church  which  has  called  this  Missionary  Con- 
ference. Having  shown  the  character  and  extent  of  the  work  to 
be  done,  we  have  considered  briefly  the  qualifications  of  the  work- 
er and  the  preparation  already  provided  in  the  Training  School  be- 
longing to  our  Board.  Shall  we  stop  here?  Shall  we  not  rather 


OUR   EDUCATIONAL   WORK    IN    CHINA.  169 

for  one  moment,  with  a  doxology  in  our  hearts  to  Jesus  the  Christ  MISS  GIBSON- 
for  the  call  to  service,  for  the  opportunities  given  and  the  bless- 
ings granted  to  service,  marred  though  it  is  by  unskillfulness — 
shall  we  not  seek  a  vision  of  our  educational  and  missionary  work 
as  it  shall  be  when  it  shall  have  come  to  pass  that  every  woman  re- 
deemed from  the  curse  shall  realize  that  it  is  her  royal  privilege 
to  have  the  Christ  incarnate  in  her,  so  that  the  weak  and  the  ig- 
norant, seeing  her,  may  know  Jesus  through  her  likeness  to  him ; 
when,  out  of  the  school  founded  by  Christian  women,  men  and 
women  shall  be  raised  up  in  such  numbers  as  witnesses  to  Christ 
that  China,  India,  Korea,  and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be 
no  longer  heathen,  but  shall  be  Christian,  saved  through  the  min- 
istry of  their  own  sons  and  daughters ;  when  in  no  land  the  serv- 
ices in  the  house  of  God  shall  be  chanted  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
when  in  no  land  the  Bible  shall  be  a  sealed  book? 

Women  of  Methodism,  women  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  "saved 
to  serve,"  shall  we  not  hold  this  vision  in  view  until  it  can  be  said 
in  truth  :  "The  King's  daughter  within  the  palace  is  all  glorious  : 
her  clothing  is  inwrought  with  gold.  She  shall  be  led  unto  the 
King  in  broidered  work :  the  virgins  her  companions  that  follow 
her  shall  be  brought  unto  thee?" 

With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they  be  led: 

They  shall  enter  into  the  King's  palace. 

Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  children, 

Whom  thou  shalt  make  princes  in  all  the  earth. 

I  will  make  thy  name  to  be  remembered  in  all  generations: 

Therefore  shall  the  peoples  give  thee  thanks  forever  and  ever. 


OUR   EDUCATIONAL  WORK   IN    CHINA. 

REV.    A.    P.    PARKER,    D.D. 

No  more  important  subject  will  come  before  the  General  Mis- 
sionary Conference  at  New  Orleans  than  that  of  Christian  educa- 
tion in  China.  An  opportunity  to  do  a  grand  work  for  the  Master 
is  now  presented  to  our  Southern  Methodist  Church  in  this  coun- 
try, such  as  has  never  been  met  with  in  the  history  of  our  Mission 
here,  and  which,  if  it  is  neglected,  will  cause  us  infinite  loss  and 


170 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


relegate  us  permanently  to  the  minor  and  comparatively  insignifi- 
cant agencies  that  are  working  for  the  salvation  of  this  people. 

I  am  glad,  therefore,  to  have  the  privilege  of  saying  a  word  on 
the  subject,  in  the  hope  that  I  may  contribute  something  toward 
helping  forward  the  scheme  which  has  been  proposed  for  the  de- 
velopment of  our  educational  work  in  this  field,  so  as  to  meet  the 
urgent  opportunities  that  now  confront  us  here. 

I.  We  have  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  our  educational  work. 
In  the  fall  of  1899,  when  Dr.  W.  R.  Lambuth  was  here,  a  sort  of 
spontaneous  movement  took  place  in  our  Mission  meeting  toward 
a  plan  for  the  unification  of  the  school  work  of  the  Mission.  The 
need  for  such  unification  had  long  been  felt,  and  more  than  one 
effort  had  been  made  in  past  years  to  bring  it  about,  but,  owing  to 
circumstances,  of  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  now,  these  ef- 
fort? had  failed.  But  when  any  considerable  body  of  men  want  a 
thing  they  are  pretty  certain  to  get  it,  sooner  or  later,  and  so  what 
we  had  been  wanting  to  see  accomplished,  and  had  almost  de- 
spaired of  ever  securing,  seemed  to  take  shape  as  if  by  the  direc- 
tion of  some  unseen  hand,  and  the  preliminary  steps  were  agreed 
to  almost  at  the  first  meeting  which  we  held  to  consult  about  it. 
The  nomination  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  their  appointment 
by  the  Board  of  Missions,  and  their  organization  and  adoption  of 
a  constitution  and  by-laws,  are  already  matters  of  history.  Sev- 
eral facts  mark  this  movement  as  especially  auspicious  at  this 
time : 

i.  The  unanimity  of  views  among  the  members  of  the  Mission 
on  the  subject.  Hitherto  it  has  seemed  impossible  to  get  the  Mis- 
sion to  unite  on  a  scheme  for  the  correlation  of  the  various  grades 
of  school  work  in  this  field.  The  need  for  such  correlation  and 
unification  has  long  been  manifest  to  all.  It  would  result  in  a  con- 
siderable economy  of  workers  as  well  as  funds;  it  would  make 
each  school  more  efficient,  by  virtue  of  being  a  part  of  a  well-artic- 
ulated system  ;  it  would  place  the  primary  and  preparatory  work 
where  they  properly  belong — that  is,  in  the  smaller  primary 
schools — and  thus  release  the  teachers  in  the  higher  grades  from 
much  of  the  drudgery  of  primary  teaching.  It  would  be  of  im- 
mense advantage  to  the  pupils  coming  under  our  instruction,  as 
work  done  in  any  school  would  count  for  promotion  and  conse- 
quent advantage  in  the  grade  next  above  it,  and  would,  in  short, 
make  the  final  product  of  the  central  and  highest  institution 


OUR   EDUCATIONAL   WORK   IN    CHINA.  Ijl 

something  worthy  of  the  name,  and  send  forth  really  educated  PARKKR- 
young  men  to  fill  important  positions  in  Church  and  State  in  an 
efficient  and  creditable  manner. 

But  while  all  have  felt  the  need,  none  has  been  able  to  devise 
a  plan  by  which  it  could  be  met.  The  time  had  not,  so  far,  ap- 
peared to  be  ripe  for  a  forward  move.  But  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  the  fall  of  1899,  when  a  plan  for  correlating  all  our  school 
work  was  proposed,  it  met  with  the  instantaneous  approval  of  all. 
There  was  not  a  dissenting  voice  raised  against  it,  and  all  were, 
and  are  now,  ready  to  lend  their  aid,  as  far  as  may  be,  to  make  it 
a  success. 

2.  The  readiness  with  which  the  leading  men  in  the  Church  in 

the  home  land  have  taken  hold  of  the  scheme.  We  have  been  Favor  at  home, 
greatly  encouraged  at  the  ready  response  which  our  appeal  for 
help  has  received  from  the  bishops,  the  Board  of  Missions,  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  from  many  of  the  leading  men  through- 
out the  Church.  Such  unity  of  purpose  and  action  on  the  part  of 
the  Mission  here  and  the  Church  at  home  gives  abundant  promise 
of  success. 

3.  The  readiness  of  the  Chinese  to  cooperate  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  large  and  well-equipped  institution  in  Soochow.     (i)  Good  wiu  of 
The  officials,  from  the  governor  of  the  province  to  the  prefect  and  c 
district  magistrate,  when  applied  to  for  assistance  in  purchasing 

the  land  for  the  proposed  university,  promptly  responded,  and 
gave  the  official  aid  and  sanction  without  which  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  secure  the  necessary  amount  of  land  for  our 
purpose.  (2)  Many  of  the  leading  men  of  wealth  and  position  in 
Soochow,  Shanghai,  Nanzing,  Changshuh,  and  other  places  have 
readily  subscribed  money  when  called  on  to  do  so  in  sums  varying 
from  fifty  dollars  to  five  thousand  dollars  (Mexican  currency)  to 
the  proposed  institution.  Nearly  twenty  thousand  dollars  has 
thus  been  subscribed  by  the  Chinese  alone,  of  which  over  six 
thousand  dollars  has  been  paid  in,  and  the  balance  is  held  subject 
to  call  when  wanted.  Besides  all  this,  we  have  the  promise  of  fur- 
ther help  from  many  of  the  wealthy  Chinese  as  soon  as  we  get  the 
institution  in  running  order  and  prove  to  them  that  we  really 
mean  to  do  something.  We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  obtain  large  gifts  from  the  Chinese  for  buildings, 
apparatus,  etc.,  when  the  university  becomes  an  established  fact, 


I72  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

PARKER.  ancj  the  Chinese  become  convinced  that  their  donations  will  ac- 

complish the  object  for  which  they  may  be  given. 

4.  The   wonderful   opportunities   for    Christian    education    in 
China.  Evidence  accumulates  on  every  hand  to  show  that  as  soon 

Opportunities,  as  the  present  troubles  are  settled,  which  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  will  soon  be  done,  the  country  will  be  open  to  the  entrance, 
of  Christian  education  in  a  way  that  we  have  never  dreamed  of  be- 
fore. The  people  want  our  education.  The  knowledge  of  the 
English  language  is  worth  large  money  in  the  market.  Steam- 
boats, railways,  mines,  etc.,  need  educated  men  to  run  them.  The 
youth  of  China,  as  well  as  multitudes  of  the  middle-aged  and 
older  men,  are  ready  to  break  with  the  obsolete  past,  and  they 
want  to  learn  from  us  what  we  have  discovered  that  is  valuable 
about  the  science  of  government,  sociology,  physical  science, 
etc.  They  are  ready,  and  indeed  eager,  to  give  up  the  old  and  fol- 
low the  new.  This  was  abundantly  proved  by  the  manner  in 
which  the  Emperor's  reform  edicts  were  received  throughout  the 
country  in  1898.  General  and  eager  acquiescence  in  the  new  or- 
der of  things  was  manifested  everywhere.  The  daily  Chinese 
papers  rang  with  the  note  of  rejoicing  that  the  ne\v  era  had  at  last 
dawned.  Our  schools  were  crowded  with  pupils  eager  to  get 
the  new  learning.  There  was  universal  joy  that  the  old  "eight- 
legged  essays"  in  the  government  civil  service  examinations  were 
to  give  place  to  modern  subjects,  such  as  mathematics,  science, 
medicine,  civil  engineering,  history,  etc.  And  while  the  coup  d'etat 
of  the  Empress  Dowager  and  her  reactionary  advisers  thwarted 
for  a  time  the  Emperor's  efforts  for  the  renovation  of  his  empire, 
the  same  desire  for  the  new  learning  still  exists  among  the  people. 
They  want  what  we  have  to  give  them.  The  recent  Boxer  upris- 
ing represents  the  attitude  of  only  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  the  people.  The  leaders  in  it  were  Manchus,  only  one  or  two 
prominent  leaders  being  Chinese.  The  great  bulk  of  the  Chinese 
were  opposed  to  it.  The  masses  of  the  people  are  ready  for  a 
change.  They  know  a  good  thing  when  they  see  it  as  well  as  any 
people  in  the  world.  And  so  we  must  be  prepared  to  teach  them. 
We  must  give  them  the  education  they  want  under  Christian  in- 
fluences, so  as  to  train  and  guide  and  develop  their  moral  and 
spiritual  natures  while  they  take  on  the  new  learning.  This  is 
vital  to  the  salvation  of  the  country. 

5.  The  location  of  the  proposed  university.     Soochow  is  one  of 


OUR    EDUCATIONAL   WORK    IN    CHINA.  173 

the  great  literary  centers  of  the  country.  Its  fame  extends 
throughout  the  eighteen  provinces,  and  a  great  university  estab- 
lished there  and  well  equipped  with  men  and  money  and  all  the  ap-  location 
purtenances  of  an  institution  of  learning  will  command  patron- 
age from  far  and  near  and  will  influence  the  whole  country  along 
the  lines  of  progress.  Soochow  also  has  the  advantage  of  placing 
far  less  temptations  to  dissipation  in  the  way  of  the  youth  than 
Shanghai.  Shanghai,  with  its  licensed  vice  and  its  multitudinous 
forms  of  dissipation,  all  under  the  legal  sanction  of  the  foreign 
ratepayers  who  govern  the  place,  is  an  exceedingly  dangerous 
place  for  young  men.  Many  of  them  who  come  here  from  the 
interior  quickly  go  to  ruin  through  the  brothels,  gambling  hells, 
opium  dens,  etc.  Soochow  is  much  quieter  and  freer  from  the 
rampant  enticements  to  evil  that  run  riot  in  Shanghai.  And,  as 
the  site  for  the  university  already  secured  is  off  to  one  side  of  the 
city,  it  will  be  far  easier  to  control  the  students  than  it  would  be 
in  Shanghai.  Parents  will,  on  this  account,  be  more  ready  to 
send  their  sons  to  school  there  than  in  Shanghai. 

II.  But  while  we  have  undertaken  such  great  and  far-reaching 
plans,  and  while  there  now  opens  up  to  us  such  a  grand  opportu- 
nity for  effectual  service  here,  THE  MEANS  IN  HAND  TO  ACCOM- 
PLISH THE  WORK  ARE  ALTOGETHER  INADEQUATE  FOR  THE  PUR- 
POSE. We  have  secured  about  six  acres  of  land  inside  the  city  of 
Soochow,  and  built  a  wall  around  it.  Three  good  men,  Dr.  D.  L. 
Anderson  and  Revs.  W.  B.  Nance  and  J.  Whiteside,  have  been 
appointed  to  lead  in  the  inauguration  of  the  enterprise.  A  Board 
of  Trustees  has  been  appointed,  and  a  constitution  and  by-laws 
have  been  drawn  up,  and  considerable  sums  of  money  have  been 
subscribed  by  friends  in  the  home  land  and  by  the  Chinese  here 
for  building  the  institution.  But  \ve  have  to  begin  at  the  very- 
foundation.  We  must  have  buildings  for  class  rooms,  dormi- 
tories, chapel,  professors'  residences,  etc.  It  will  require  not  less 
than  $20,000  (gold)  to  make  even  a  bare  beginning.  And  if  the 
work  grows,  as  it  is  sure  to  do,  other  buildings  will  be  needed  in 
the  near  future  that  will  cost  from  $50.000  to  $75,000  (gold),  in 
addition  to  the  buildings,  apparatus,  and  outfit  of  various  kinds 
that  will  have  to  be  provided.  It  is  true  we  have  a  lot  of  valuable 
land  in  Shanghai  which,  when  improved,  will  be  a  source  of  con- 
siderable income  to  the  university  :  but  a  large  amount  of  money 
will  be  necessary  to  improve  this  vacant  land,  and  when  it  is  im- 


174  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

proved  the  income  will  be  needed  to  meet  the  current  expenses 
of  the  institution.  Our  immediate  need  is  a  sum  sufficient  to 
erect  suitable  buildings  and  to  provide  the  necessary  outfit. 

Our  present  resources,  both  in  men  and  money,  are  wholly  in- 
sufficient, therefore,  to  meet  the  opportunity  that  now  comes  to 
us,  and  we  must  appeal  to  the  Church  in  the  home  land  for  the 
help  that  is  needed  to  establish  the  proposed  university  and  place 
it  on  a  solid  basis.    Without  adequate  help  from  the  home  land, 
it  must,  in  a  large  measure,  fail  of  its  object,  and  another  will  take 
our  crown ;  for  we  may  rest  assured  that  this  work  of  education 
will  certainly  be  done,  if  not  by  us,  then  by  others.     The  Chinese 
want  the  education  that  we  can  give  them,  and  they  are  going  to 
get  it.     They  look  to  the  missionaries,  largely,  to  give  it  to  them. 
If  we  do  not  do  our  part  of  the  work,  some  other  mission  will  do 
if  for  us ;  and  though  we  may  be  thus  relieved  of  the  expense  and 
trouble  of  it,  we  shall  lose  our  reward.    Fifteen  years  ago  we  had 
the  right  of  way  in  the  educational  work  of  Central  China.    We 
were  in  the  lead,  and  ought  to  have  maintained  that  position. 
But    for   various    reasons,    chiefly   through    failure    to    receive 
adequate  support  from  home,  our  prestige  was  lost.      It  has 
been  impossible  to  make  bricks  without  straw.     Without  the 
money   with   which   to   build    the    necessary   dormitories,    class 
rooms,  chapel,  etc.,  and  without  the  necessary  number  of  com- 
petent teachers,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  do  the  work 
demanded  by  the  great  movements  now  in  progress.      Other 
colleges,  under  wise  leadership,  with  ample  funds  supplied  from 
the  home  land,  and  with  a  numerous  corps  of  competent  teachers, 
have  forged  ahead  and  established  nourishing  institutions  that 
command  unlimited  patronage  of  the  best  class  of  students.     The 
Anglo-Chinese  College  in  Shanghai  is  still  doing  a  good  work,  it 
is  true,  and  will  continue  to  do  so,  but  its  position  as  the  leading 
institution  of  learning  in  the  Yang-tse  valley  has  been  lost,  and 
cannot  be  regained. 

Let  us  not  make  a  similar  mistake  in  regard  to  this  new  en- 
terprise in  Soochow.  The  field  is  ours.  Let  us  occupy  it.  Let 
us  not  slip  another  opportunity  that  God  has  placed  before  our 
Southern  Methodist  Church  to  do  a  glorious  work  for  him  in 
China. 

III.  One  all-important  reason  why  we  should  go  forward  with 


OUR    EDUCATIONAL   WORK    IN    CHINA.  175 

this  scheme  is  that  we  may  thereby  raise  up  qualified  Christian  PARKER- 
leaders  for  evangelistic  and  educational  work. 

Such  leaders  are  a  necessary  factor  in  the  great  missionary 
propaganda  in  this  country.  China's  greatest  need  is  for  men,  Heed  of  lead_ 
educated  men,  trained  men,  men  of  broad  views  and  wide  informa-  crs- 
tion,  men  of  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts,  men  with  moral  back- 
bone, men  that  fear  God  and  hate  sin,  that  love  their  country  and 
care  not  for  self.  The  government  needs  them  ;  the  Church  is  call- 
ing for  them;  the  Chinese  daily  papers  are  crying  out  for  them. 
Reading,  as  I  do,  the  native  daily  papers  in  Shanghai,  such  as  the 
Shen-pao,  the  'Sin-wan-pao,  the  Universal  Gazette,  the  Supao,  etc., 
I  am  constantly  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  native  writers  see 
so  plainly  that  the  greatest  need  of  the  country  is  for  good  men 
and  true.  They  say  over  and  again  that  no  amount  of  gunboats 
can  make  a  navy  without  the  right  kind  of  men  to  take  charge  of 
them ;  no  amount  of  the  best  arms  and  ammunition  that  can  be 
purchased  in  Europe  or  America  can  make  an  army  without  the 
right  kind  of  officers  and  men  to  use  them ;  no  mere  reforms  in 
government  methods  can  benefit  the  country  much  unless  there 
are  good  and  true  men  to  fill  the  places  of  trust  and  power.  The 
newspapers  but  echo  the  sentiments  of  the  people  at  large,  and 
we  might  almost  say  that  they  have  become  in  effect  great  adver- 
tising sheets  carrying  the  one  advertisement :  "Wanted — A 
man !" 

i.  The  work  of  evangelization  must  necessarily  be  done  chiefly 
by  native  agents.  We  can  never  hope  to  obtain  enough  foreign 
missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  the  millions  in  this  vast 
empire.  The  native  preacher  can,  by  reason  of  greater  familiarity 
with  the  language  and  customs  of  the  people,  do  the  work  Katlve  evan_ 
much  more  effectively  than  the  foreign  missionary.  Pastors  for  geiists  re- 
the  organized  Churches  must  also  be  largely  native.  The  foreign  4 
missionary  cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  a  pastor  to  the  native  Christians. 
There  is  a  great  and  growing  demand  in  all  the  missions  for  na- 
tive preachers  and  pastors,  and  the  supply  does  not  nearly  equal 
the  demand.  There  is  not  a  mission  here  that  I  know  of  that  is 
not  desirous  of  securing  man}'  more  native  workers  than  it  now 
has.  But  educated,  trained  men  are  wanted,  for  only  this  kind 
can  do  the  work.  Of  the  inferior,  untrained,  "half-baked"  kind 
there  is  an  abundant  supply;  too  many,  in  fact,  altogether.  Such 
as  these  are  at  a  great  disadvantage  here  as  in  the  home  land. 


176 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Teachers  also. 


What  has 
been  done. 


They  cannot  do  the  best  work.  It  is  the  educated,  trained  man 
who,  other  things  being  equal,  forges  ahead,  gets  the  best  appoint- 
ments, takes  the  lead,  does  things.  The  best  men  in  our  China 
Mission  Conference  to-day  are  those  who  were  educated  in  Buf- 
fington  College.  One  of  the  most  important  departments  in  the 
proposed  university  will  be  the  theological  department,  where  the 
future  preachers  for  our  Mission  are  to  receive  their  training.  We 
must  lay  special  stress  on  this  department.  It  is  here  that  we  are 
to  do  our  best  and  most  telling  work.  It  is  here  that  we  are  to 
train  our  strong  men  for  the  conquest  of  China,  and  we  must  see 
to  it  that  this  department  is  properly  manned  and  equipped  for 
its  all-important  work. 

2.  But  not  only  are  men  needed  to  preach  the  gospel  to  their 
fellow-countrymen.  Large  numbers  of  teachers  are  called  for  to 
teach  in  the  mission  schools  and  colleges,  in  government  institu- 
tions of  various  grades,  in  schools  established  by  the  people,  and 
as  private  tutors  in  wealthy  families.  Here  again  the  demand  far 
exceeds  the  supply.  A  considerable  number  of  students  have 
graduated  from  Buffington  College  and  from  the  Anglo-Chinese 
College  in  the  past  ten  years ;  and  they  have  all  been  in  demand, 
either  in  our  mission  or  in  some  other  mission,  as  teachers, 
preachers,  medical  students,  etc.  The  Presbyterian  College  at 
Tengchow  has  turned  out  a  large  number  of  graduates  in  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  these  have,  with  few  exceptions,  found  em- 
ployment in  various  parts  of  the  country  in  teaching,  preaching, 
and  in  other  ways,  and  there,  as  with  us,  the  call  for  helpers  has 
been  far  in  excess  of  the  supply  of  qualified  men. 

Teachers  in  government  institutions  and  other  secular  schools 
and  as  tutors  in  private  families  are  in  constant  demand.  The 
following  are  instances  of  the  openings  held  out  to  properly 
qualified  young  men  in  this  direction.  A  son  of  a  native  preach- 
er in  the  Episcopal  Mission  in  Shanghai  has  been  employed  as  a 
private  tutor  in  the  family  of  a  brother  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  at 
Yang  Chow,  at  a  salary  of  $200  (Mexican)  per  month.  A  Chris- 
tian pupil  from  the  Anglo-Chinese  College  has  recently  been  em- 
ployed to  go  to  a  town  near  Xingpo  to  teach  in  a  school  estab- 
lished by  the  people  of  the  place,  and  he  is  to  receive  a  salary  of 
$400  per  annum.  This  young  man  is  from  a  poor,  Christian  fam- 
ily, and  without  the  education  that  we  have  given  him  could  not 


OUR    EDUCATIONAL    WORK    IN    CHINA.  177 

have  hoped  to  secure  a  position  that  would  pay  him  more  than  PARKER. 
sixty  or  seventy-five  dollars  a  year. 

The  new  education  is  taking  hold  of  the  country,  and  with  it  the 
demand  for  teachers  that  can  teach  the  new  learning  is  growing 
apace.  We  must  supply  them.  To  fail  to  do  so  would  be  to  fail 
at  a  vital  point  in  our  scheme  for  the  evangelization  of  China. 
As  missionaries  of  the  cross  we  cannot  afford  to  allow  the  train- 
ing of  the  teachers  of  the  new  learning  to  be  done  by  heathen  and 
infidels. 

Christian  leaders  of  thought  among  the  Chinese  must  be  raised 
up  to  meet  the  infidelity  and  atheism  that  are  being  brought  into 
the  country  by  means  of  the  translation  of  infidel  books.  The 
works  of  Darwin,  Huxley,  Spencer,  ct  id  genus  oinne,  are  being  The  new  edu- 
translated  by  Chinese  who  have  been  educated  in  England  and  catlon- 
America,  and  who  have  come  back  to  China  to  set  themselves  up 
as  opponents  of  that  Christianity  by  whose  help  they  have  been 
lifted  out  of  the  ignorance  and  superstitions  of  heathenism.  There 
is  now  appearing  daily  in  some  of  the  Chinese  newspapers  here  in 
Shanghai  an  advertisement  of  a  translation  of  Spencer's  "First 
Principles, "made  by  a  Chinese  who  was  educated  in  England,  and 
who  is  a  fine  scholar  both  in  English  and  Chinese.  The  book  is 
having  an  extensive  sale,  and  other  works  on  evolution  and  kin- 
dred subjects  are  being  translated  and  published  in  the  Chinese 
language. 

This  is  one  of  the  devil's  most  subtle  ways  of  counteracting  the 
effects  of  Christianity  in  this  empire.  As  a  well-educated  Chris- 
tian teacher  in  the  Anglo-Chinese  College  recently  said  to  me : 
''The  devil  has  tried  to  break  the  force  of  Christianity  among  the 
Chinese  heretofore,  first,  by  circulating  all  sorts  of  slanders  about 
the  missionaries,  as,  that  they  gouge  out  the  eyes  of  children  and  The  devirs 
dead  people  to  use  for  making  medicines:  that  they  are  beasts  of  * 
licentiousness  ;  that  they  are  spies  of  the  foreign  governments,  etc. 
But  that  method  having  been  found  ineffectual,  a  second  has  been 
tried — viz.,  that  of  stirring  up  riots  against  the  missionaries  and 
the  native  Christians,  culminating  in  the  Boxer  uprising  of  last 
summer  and  the  slaughter  of  over  two  hundred  missionaries  and 
thousands  of  native  Christians.  But  this  method  also  is  found  to 
be  unavailing,  as  no  amount  of  persecution  and  violence  can 
frighten  the  missionaries  out  of  the  country.  So  he  is  now  enter- 
ing upon  a  third  and  far  more  dangerous  line  of  attack — viz.,  by 


178  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

importing  into  China  the  infidelity  of  the  West,  under  the  spe- 
cious garb  of  learning  and  science,  as  a  substitute  for  all  religion." 

The  teacher  is  right.  The  attack  on  Christianity  by  means  of 
the  translation  of  godless  books  under  the  plausible  title  of  science 
and  the  new  learning  will  do  more  to  hinder  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel among  the  people  than  any  amount  of  slander  or  violent  per- 
secution. The  missionaries  must  therefore  educate  and  train  the 
Christian  leaders  of  thought  among  the  Chinese  who  shall  be  able 
to  combat  these  oppositions  of  science,  falsely  so-called,  and  save 
the  people  from  the  disastrous  results  of  getting  nothing  in  ex- 
change for  their  own  heathen  religion  and  superstitions  except 
the  empty  husks  of  the  infidelity  and  the  atheism  of  the  West. 

The  university  that  we  are  now  establishing  is  the  place  where 
we  are  to  raise  up  the  men  who  are  to  be  instrumental  in  saving 
this  people  from  the  error  of  their  ways  and  delivering  them  from 
the  thraldom  of  superstition  and  false  belief. 


Section  III. 

MEDICAL    WORK. 


THE  PHYSICIAN  AS  A  MISSIONARY." 

W.  H.  PARK,  M.D. 

OF  the  various  missionary  agencies,  the  medical  is  the  only  one 
that  reaches  all  classes.  The  preacher  can  preach  only  to  those 
who  are  willing  to  hear  him,  and  in  the  beginning  the  number  is 
not  large.  Occasionally  a  man  will  come  to  him  as  Nicodemus 
came,  by  night,  but  such  cases  are  rare.  Paul  on  his  missionary 
tours  found  a  synagogue,  or  a  religious  family,  or  a  company  of 
praying  people  on  the  riverside  where  he  could  proclaim  the  gos- 
pel, and  on  one  notable  occasion  he  was  invited  by  the  elders  of 
a  great  city  to  speak  in  the  public  hall ;  but  in  heathen  countries 
at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  modern  missionary  there  were  no 
public  halls,  public  speaking  was  unknown,  synagogues  did  not 
exist,  no  family  in  the  beginning  would  think  of  sending  for  a 
preacher,  and  if  any  company  met  at  the  riverside,  it  was  to  ap- 
pease the  wrath  of  evil  spirits  and  not  to  pray  to  the  true  God. 

Paul  in  most  places  would  be  understood  when  he  referred  to 
the  patriarchs,  and  his  listeners  would  recognize  his  Scripture 
quotations,  whether  they  agreed  to  his  interpretation  or  not,  but 
in  purely  heathen  countries  you  might  as  well  talk  Dutch  as  to 
refer  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  appeals  to  Scripture  sound 
only  like  so  much  nonsense.  You  in  this  country  can  scarcely 
form  an  idea  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  in  the  beginning.  Some 
preach  in  tents,  some  in  boats,  some  on  the  streets,  and  some  in 
chapels,  the  latter  generally  a  rented  building  on  a  busy  street, 
so  that  a  crowd  can  easily  be  collected  by  simply  opening  the 
doors  and  singing  a  hymn.  But  such  audiences  are  generally 
made  up  of  street  urchins  and  the  idle  and  curious,  and  some  one 
is  going  or  coming  all  the  time,  so  that  there  is  scarcely  a  person 
present  at  the  end  of  the  sermon  who  was  there  at  the  begin- 
ning. No  wonder  cases  have  been  known  of  preaching  for  forty 


l8o  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

years  without  a  convert.  It  was  not  the  gospel  that  had  not  the 
power  to  save ;  the  people  simply  had  not  heard  it,  that  was  all. 

The  editor  and  writer  reaches  primarily  the  literary  class  only. 
It  is  true  his  influence  may,  and  does,  extend  through  and  be- 
yond, but  of  direct  contact  with  the  great  mass  of  people,  the 
poor  and  uneducated,  he  has  none. 

The  teacher  of  course  has  more  to  do  with  the  young  than  with 
any  other  class.  In  China  his  influence  now  is  great,  but  in  the 
beginning  children  had  to  be  paid  to  get  them  to  come  to  the  mis- 
sionary school. 

The  colporteur  can  sell  only  to  those  who  are  willing  to  buy 
his  books,  and  so  it  is  with  Bible  women,  native  assistants,  and 
agencies  of  every  kind.  Some  reach  one  class  and  some  anoth- 
er, but  the  medical  missionary  has  access  to  all.  Nay,  more;  he 
is  invited  and  sought  after  by  all.  The  reason  is  plain  :  all  are  liable 
to  be  sick,  and  when  sick  they  need  a  physician.  This  is  the  way 
it  was  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  so  it  will  ever  be.  He  healed  the 
poor  mostly,  but  did  not  hesitate  to  answer  the  call  to  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  rich  ruler. 

The  poor  flock  to  our  missionary  hospitals  and  dispensaries, 
but  the  rich  are  not  excluded,  and  the  homes  of  the  highest  in 
the  land  are  as  freely  opened  as  the  hovels  of  the  poor.  This  fact 
makes  medical  missionaries  peculiarly  valuable  for  pioneer  work, 
of  the  physi-  jn  many  places  they  can  open  the  wav  as  no  one  else  can.  Dr. 

C2£U.  J     l  .  '. 

Harford-Battersby  tells  how,  in  traveling  through  Africa,  he  un- 
dertook to  preach  the  gospel  at  the  various  villages  on  the  route, 
but  the  people  were  not  disposed  to  listen,  being  too  well  satis- 
fied with  their  own  ways  to  want  anything  better;  but  when  he 
asked  for  the  sick,  and  cleansed  and  treated  some  loathsome 
sores,  the  people  flocked  around  him  and  would  listen  to  any- 
thing he  had  to  say. 

Medical  work  is  also  a  great  factor  in  removing  prejudice 
against  the  missionary  and  correcting  misunderstandings  in  re- 
gard to  his  work. 

For  many  years  we  had  living  near  us  in  Soochow  a  man  of 
position  and  influence,  the  general  manager  of  the  Salt  Gabelle, 
who,  feeling  quite  sure  we  were  not  to  be  trusted,  would  never 
come  near  us  to  see  what  we  were  doing  or  to  hear  what  we 
taught.  Finally  a  friend  persuaded  him  to  bring  his  brother, 
who  had  been  blind  for  seven  years,  to  the  hospital  for  treatment, 


THE    PHYSICIAN    AS   A   MISSIONARY.  l8l 

and  on  seeing  him  cured  he  became  one  of  the  best  friends  of  our  I>ARK- 
mission  in  the  city  of  Soochow,  helped  me  no  little  in  my  col- 
lections for  the  Anti-Opium  League  and  the  Soochow  University,  ^  exampie. 
made  speeches  at  our  commencement  exercises,  etc.,  and  in  one  of 
my  last  letters  from  China  we  were  told  that  he  had  established  at 
his  own  expense  a  school  for  English  in  his  native  town  of  Nan 
Zing  and  had  appointed  a  Christian  young  man  to  teach  it. 

Not  only  do  medical  missionaries  have  access  to  all  classes, 
but  in  particular  they  reach  a  class,  and  that  the  most  important 
of  all,  that  can  scarcely  be  reached  in  any  other  way.  I  refer  to 
the  women  of  heathen  lands.  Shut  up  at  home  and  unable  to 
read,  multitudes  of  them  would  never  hear  the  gospel,  or  even  the 
truth  about  the  gospel,  but  for  the  medical  missionary.  The 
stories  that  they  hear  or  invent  of  foreigners  and  Christians  are 
almost  beyond  belief,  and  we  have  to  begin  at  the  very  beginning 

with  them.    When  called  to  a  strange  familv  I  often  take  occa-   He  has  accese 

,  ,  to  families, 

sion  to  speak  of  my  father  and  mother  and  brothers  and  sisters. 

They  nearly  always  seem  amazed  to  think  that  I,  an  outside 
barbarian,  should  have  human  relationships  such  as  they  them- 
selves have.  One  question  leads  to  another,  and  after  a  few  days 
some  of  the  ladies  order  their  sedan  chairs  or  a  boat,  and,  accom- 
panied by  their  servants,  come  to  see  my  wife,  and  later  on  they 
often  become  so  interested  that  they  ask  to  be  taken  to  a  prayer 
meeting  or  Church  service.  For  this  work  lady  physicians  are 
peculiarly  adapted,  and  the  reports  of  their  work,  especially  from 
the  zenanas  of  India,  are  most  encouraging. 

Trained  nurses  are  also  a  factor  for  good  in  this  connection. 
The  Chinese  never  make  up  a  sick  person's  bed  or  smooth  out  the 
cover  or  tidy  up  the  room,  nor  in  many  cases  of  sudden  and  dan- 
gerous illness  do  they  undress  the  patient  or  pay  any  attention  to 
the  ordinary  rules  of  personal  cleanliness.  Their  one  idea  for  the 
room  is  to  keep  it  close  and  dark  so  as  to  exclude  drafts,  and,  inci- 
dentally, all  fresh  air  as  well.  The  darkening  of  the  room  calls 
for  artificial  light,  and  for  this  they  generally  use  big  sputtering 
candles.  If  the  patient  has  a  foul-smelling  wound  or  sore,  they 
occasionally  fill  the  room  with  smoke  by  sprinkling  resin  on  a 
shovel  full  of  live  coals.  I  have  been  in  rooms  shut  tightlv  and 

o          » 

lighted  and  smoked  as  described  above  and  full  of  people,  rela- 
tives and  friends,  all  breathing  the  same  bad  air,  talking  and  ex- 


l82 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Chinese  nurs- 
ing. 


pectorating  and  some  of  them  smoking,  and  in  ten  minutes  I 
would  have  the  worst  kind  of  headache. 

They  think  that  in  certain  cases  the  patient  must  be  propped  up, 
and  for  this  they  use  human  beings  instead  of  pillows.  The  big 
bed,  with  high  posts  and  cross  railings,  with  curtains  above  and  on 
all  sides,  is  like  a  small  house,  and  to  have  every  window  and  door 
in  the  room  shut,  and  every  curtain  down  around  the  bed  and  four 
or  five  persons  on  the  bed,  one  sitting  at  the  head  with  the  patient 
propped  up  by  her,  and  the  head  resting  on  her  chest,  and  anoth- 
er behind  helping  to  hold  up  the  first  prop,  and  another  pounding 
the  patient's  shoulders,  and  another  chafing  hands  and  limbs,  and 
all  of  them  hot  and  perspiring,  is  enough  to  kill  a  well  person,  let 
alone  one  who  is  sick.  To  have  a  trained  nurse  from  one  of  our 
mission  hospitals  come  into  such  a  place  and  introduce  fresh  air, 
neatness,  and  order  in  the  place  of  darkness,  dirt,  and  death  is 
indeed  like  the  coming  of  the  angel  of  light. 

Medical  missionaries  have  great  opportunities  for  removing 
superstition  and  counteracting  the  hold  of  the  necromancers  on 
an  enslaved  people.  The  power  of  these  gentry  is  due  to  the  be- 
lief on  the  part  of  the  people  that  sickness  is  due  to  evil  spirits 
and  other  powers  of  darkness  which  they,  the  necromancers, 
can  counteract.  In  China,  in  addition  to  the  regular  geomancers, 
called  "foong  shui  professors,"  most  of  the  Buddhist  and  Taoist 
priests,  and  even  the  doctors,  operate  on  this  same  line. 

Not  long  ago  I  questioned  an  intelligent  Chinese  gentleman, 
who  came  to  me  for  eye  treatment,  as  to  what  the  Chinese  doctor 
said  was  the  matter  with  his  eye,  and  he  replied :  ''The  first  time 
I  went  to  him  he  pronounced  the  redness  due  to  mounting  fire 
from  the  liver,  but  the  second  time  he  said  it  was  caused  by  in- 
numerable little  devils  that  had  come  up  through  the  ground  in 
my  garden."  "Right  then,"  said  he,  "I  knew  that  doctor  did  not 
know  what  was  wrong  with  my  eye,  else  he  would  not  have  laid 
the  blame  on  the  devils." 

The  curing  of  a  few  intelligent  men  like  this  in  a  community 
will  do  more  to  remove  superstition  and  devil  worship  than  almost 
anything  else  in  the  world. 

Medical  missionary  work  is  one  of  the  easiest  of  all  depart- 
ments to  make  self-supporting.  The  poor  should  be  charged 
only  a  nominal  fee,  foregoing  a  fee  altogether  in  cases  of  known 
destitution,  but  the  well  to  do  can  and  will  pay  for  all  they  get, 


THE    PHYSICIAN    AS   A  MISSIONARY.  183 

and  the  rich  are  ever  ready  to  make  donations  if  approached  in  PA 
the  proper  way.     The  Soochow  hospital  has  been  practically  self- 
supporting  for  years,  the  small  sum  appropriated  from  the  home 
Church,  and  more  too,  being  used  every  year  in  improvements. 

As  a  direct  evangelical  agency  and  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  pas- 
torate medical  missions  stand  in  the  first  rank.  Our  morning 
prayers  in  the  hospital  are  well  attended,  and  nothing  affords  me 
more  joy  on  Sunday  mornings  than  to  see  two  or  three  pews  in 
the  Churdh  full  of  patients  from  the  hospital,  and  another  pew  or 
two  occupied  by  the  medical  students.  Nearly  all  the  latter  are 
Christians,  and  some  of  them  have  been  most  active  in  Christian 
work.  Not  long  ago  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  four  persons 
unite  with  the  Church  at  one  time,  all  of  them  patients  and  serv- 
ants from  the  Soochow  hospital. 

The  points,  then,  that  I  urge  in  favor  of  medical  mission  work 
are: 

1.  It  reaches  all  classes. 

2.  It  is  especially  suitable  for  reaching  women  in  countries 
where  they  are  uneducated  and  shut  up  in  their  homes.  in 

3.  It  is  peculiarly  qualified  for  pioneer  work.     In  many  places 
no  one  can  open  the  way  like  the  missionary  physician. 

4.  It  removes  prejudice  and  corrects  misunderstandings. 

5.  It  is  one  of  the  most  successful  weapons  against  superstition. 

6.  It  is  one  of  the  easiest  departments  made  self-supporting. 

7.  Last,  but  by  no  means  least,  it  is  in  no  whit  behind  the  other 
departments  as  an  evangelical  agency. 

As  to  the  history  of  medical  missions,  it  is  coexistent  with  the 
Church  of  God  on  earth.  Many  of  the  prophets  healed  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  no  one  ever  healed  more  than  our  Lord 
himself. 

The  history  of  medical  work  in  our  own  mission  begins  with 
our  first  missionary  to  China,  as  Dr.  Charles  Taylor  was  a  physi- 
cian as  well  as  preacher.  Dr.  D.  C.  Kelley  came  next  for  a 
short  while,  and  after  a  considerable  interval  he  was  succeeded 
by  Dr.  \Y.  R.  Lambuth ;  and  it  was  not  until  Dr.  Lambuth  took 
hold  of  it  with  his  accustomed  zeal  and  enthusiasm  that  the 
Church  at  large  took  much  interest  in  this  department.  The 
writer  of  this  paper  had  the  privilege  of  coming  next  as  an  asso- 
ciate of  Dr.  Lambuth.  and  ever  since  his  much-regretted  with- 

Sjme 

drawal  has  had  charge  except  when  at  home  on  furloughs,  thus 


184  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

giving  him  the  honor  of  serving  longer  than  any  other  medical 
missionary  in  our  Church. 

In  1890  Dr.  R.  H.  Campbell  was  associated  with  me  for  one 
year,  and  during  my  last  furlough  home  the  wttrk  was  in  charge 
of  Dr.  E.  H.  Hart,  loaned  to  us  from  the  M.  E.  Mission,  and  at 
present  it  is  in  charge  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Fearn  and  Dr.  J.  D.  Trawick. 
In  the  woman's  department  of  this  work  first  came  Dr.  Mildred 
Phillips,  then  Dr.  Anne  Walter  (now  Mrs.  Fearn),  and  then  Dr. 
Margaret  Polk,  who  is  now  in  charge. 

The  hospital  for  men  was  built  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Lam- 
buth  and  myself,  and  the  woman's  hospital  under  Dr.  Phillips. 
The  two  hospitals  adjoin,  and  are  practically  one  hospital  with 
two  departments,  one  for  men  and  the  other  for  women  and  chil- 
dren. 

In  connection  with  the  hospital  we  have  a  medical  school  and 
a  training  school  for  nurses.  Sixteen  young  men  and  women 
have  been  graduated  from  the  medical  school,  and  quite  a  large 
class  is  now  in  attendance.  Our  pupils  and  graduates  are  wide- 
ly distributed  over  the  East,  and  nearly  all  are  so  far  doing  well. 
One  had  charge  of  the  hospital  for  Chinese  during  the  memorable 
siege  of  Peking,  one  (Miss  Dr.  Yu)  is  with  Mrs.  Campbell  in  Ko- 
rea, one  (Miss  Dr.  Zah)  is  Dr.  Folk's  indispensable  assistant  in 
the  woman's  hospital,  two  are  surgeons  on  Chinese  men-of-war, 
one  is  helping  Brother  Hendry  open  work  in  Huchow,  one  is  in 
America  qualifying  for  more  extended  work,  and  most  of  the  rest 
are  in  good  private  practice.  Xearly  all  are  Christians,  and  at 
our  District  and  Annual  Conferences  a  large  proportion  of  the  lay 
delegates  are  doctors  and  medical  students. 

Counted  as  one,  we  stand  high  up  in  the  list  of  the  large  hos- 
pitals in  China  in  the  number  of  visits  from  patients  per  year 
Toeing  in  round  numbers  18,000),  and  in  paid  calls  to  private  fam- 
ilies we  stand  first  of  all.  Fees  from  this  source  go  a  good  way 
toward  making  the  hospital  self-supporting,  the  collections  in  the 
one  month  of  August,  1899,  being  over  two  hundred  dollars. 
Not  only  do  we  stand  first  in  the  matter  of  calls  to  private  fam- 
ilies, but  the  $2,000  fee  for  curing  the  eyes  of  the  two  sons  of  Mr. 
D.  F.  Tsang  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  largest  ever  received  in 
China,  if  not  in  any  other  mission  field.  To  show  further  what 
medical  work  can  do,  when  the  Anti-Opium  League  of  China 
wished  a  book  on  the  opium  question,  and  three  of  us,  the  other 


THE    PHYSICIAN    AS    A    MISSIONARY.  185 

two  being  laymen,  were  appointed,  the  laymen  at  once  turned  PARK> 
the  work  all  over  to  me,  recognizing  that  a  medical  man  alone 
was  in  position  to  write  it,  and  when  the  Anti-Opium  League 
wanted  money  I  raised  ten  times  more  from  the  Chinese  than  all 
the  rest  of  the  missionaries  in  China  proper,  Hongkong,  and 
Manchuria  put  together,  this  success  leading  to  my  appointment 
as  treasurer  of  the  Anti-Opium  League. 

When  during  the  recent  visit  of  your  honored  Secretary  to 
China  he  and  the  presiding  elder  of  the  Soochow  District  were 
consulting  together  as  to  how  to  reach  the  men  of  position  in 
Soochow  in  the  interest  of  our  Soochow  University,  a  man  of   Medical  work 
power,  who  had  come  to  consult  me  for  sickness,  showed  them   and  the  soo- 
the way,  and  thus  through  medical  work  was  held  a  meeting  versity> 
unique  in  the  annals  of  missions,  when  the  elders  of  one  of  the 
greatest  and  proudest  Confucian  cities  in  China  met  at  dinner  at 
the  home  of  a  medical  missionary  to  consult  about  the  founding 
of  a  Christian  university. 

When  the  China  Mission  Conference  joined  in  the  glorious 
Twentieth  Century  Movement  your  medical  missionary  was 
elected  treasurer,  and  when  we  started  out  to  raise  the  money  for 
the  Soochow  University  he  was  able  to  collect  in  cash  and  sub- 
scriptions more  money  from  non-Christians  than  was  ever  col- 
lected by  any  other  missionary  in  China. 

When  land  was  wanted  for  the  university,  and  Consul  General 
Goodnow  helped  by  calling  on  the  Governor  and  Viceroy,  there 
was  one  piece  belonging  to  a  guild  that  not  even  the  \  iceroy 
himself  could  order  sold,  and  it  remained  for  your  medical  mis- 
sionary to  get  it  by  calling  on  the  head  man  of  the  guild  in  per- 
son, thus  securing  land  that  our  mission  had  been  trying  in  vain 
to  buy  for  over  twenty-five  years. 

When  difficulty  arose  about  removing  a  temple  on  another  part 
of  the  land,  the  grandfather  of  a  little  girl  I  had  just  cured  of  diph- 
theria, being  a  trustee  of  the  temple,  came  forward  and  advised 
the  priest  to  move  his  temple  and  gave  a  lot  of  land  in  a  desirable 
place  across  the  street  for  a  new  temple  location. 

When  Soochow  was  made  an  open  port,  after  the  war  with 
Japan,  the  foreign  consuls  and  custom  officials  came  to  the  med- 
ical man  about  renting  houses,  etc.,  because  he  was  acquainted 
with  so  many  leading  Chinese ;  and  the  Chinese  came  to  him.  be- 


l86  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

PARK*  cause  he  knew  the  foreigners  and  he  was  able  to  help  all  and  gain 

the  good  will  of  all. 

When  the  custom  service  was  established  in  Soochow  your 
medical  missionary  was  made  surgeon  to  it,  and  when  the  cotton 
mills  and  silk  filatures  were  built  he  was  appointed  physician  to 
them,  the  fees  from  all  these  sources  helping  to  make  the  hospital 
self-supporting  and  adding  still  further  to  its  influence. 

In  addition  to  all  these  duties,  the  hospital  and  dispensary  pa- 
tients increased,  more  medical  students  applied  so  that  a  new 
other  results."  class  had  to  be  formed ;  out  calls  mostly  to  wealthy  and  influential 
families  increased  until  we  could  hardly  attend  to  them,  and  more 
people  were  becoming  interested  in  the  gospel,  and  joining  the 
Church  from  the  hospital  than  ever  before. 

When  Mrs.  Archibald  Little,  President  of  the  Anti-Foot-Bind- 
ing Society  of  China,  wished  to  hold  a  meeting  in  Soochow,  she 
appealed  to  me,  and  Mrs.  Park  and  I,  by  sending  invitations  to 
our  friends,  friends  who  had  become  so  through  the  medical  work, 
got  together  such  a  crowd  of  small-footed  women  from  the  influ- 
ential families  of  the  city  as  was  a  surprise  to  all  who  saw  it. 
Our  whole  front  yard  and  the  street  in  front  of  the  hospital  were 
full  of  sedan  chairs,  and  after  the  occupants  had  called  at  our 
house,  where  tea  and  cake  were  served,  they  were  conducted  in 
parties,  as  they  came,  to  the  chapel  of  the  woman's  hospital,  where 
a  most  enthusiastic  meeting  was  held. 

When  last  year  the  edicts  came  down  from  Peking  to  extermi- 
nate all  foreigners  in  Soochow,  and  all  our  other  missionaries  left 
the  city,  your  medical  missionary  and  his  family  remained,  as- 
sured by  the  officials  that  they  would  be  protected,  and  we  only 
left  finally  when  the  British  Consul  telegraphed  for  all  women 
and  children  to  come  in  from  the  Yang-tse  ports ;  and  when  peace 
negotiations  began,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fearn  were  the  first  to  go 
back  to  Soochow.  Moreover  our  medical  work  did  not  stop 
during  those  trying  times,  for  before  I  finally  left  I  held  a  meet- 
ing with  Rev.  C.  K.  Marshall  (Dzan  Tsz  Zeh)  and  the  medical 
students,  and  they  agreed  to  keep  the  dispensary  open,  and,  true 
to  their  word,  they  kept  it  going,  and  Dr.  Fearn  found  everything 
in  good  running  shape  when  he  reached  the  city  after  the  trouble 
was  over. 

In  conclusion  allow  me  to  quote  from  an  article  by  Miss  Grace 
M.  Kimball,  M.D.,  former  missionary  to  Turkey,  these  words: 


MEDICAL   WORK   FOR   WOMAN.  187 

"I  urge  those  of  you  who  are  thinking  of  the  career  of  a  med- 
ical missionary  to  note  that  there  is  no  career  more  honorable, 
more  necessary,  more  helpful  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  more  fas- 
cinating in  its  carrying  out,  and,  I  will  say,  more  wearing  to  the 
mind,  body,  and  soul  than  that  of  a  medical  missionary.  We  at 
home  need  to  remember  that  if  we  are  going  to  send  medical  mis- 
sionaries at  all  we  should  send  them  something  like  ten  times  as 
numerously  and  as  well-equipped  as  we  are  now  sending  them. 
Let  us  think  earnestly  on  this  problem." 


MEDICAL  WORK  FOR  WOMAN. 

MRS.  ANN'E  WALTER  FEARN,  M.D.,  SOOCHOW,  CHINA. 

THE  subject  before  us  is  so  broad,  so  deep,  so  full  of  meaning, 
so  powerful,  and  so  far-reaching  in  its  effects  that  we  are  power- 
less to  present  it  to  eyes  that  have  not  seen  and  ears  that  have  not 
heard.  We  attempt  to  give  only  a  few  simple  facts  in  connection 
with  medical  work.  It  is  the  one  branch  of  the  work  which  brings 
us  in  close  personal  contact  with  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  low- 
est ;  that  calls  forth  the  outpouring  of  the  surcharged  heart,  be 
it  filled  with  griefs  or  joy.  It  is  the  branch  that  calls  for  most  of 
patience  and  love  and  endurance,  that  most  needs  the  power 
divine  to  strengthen,  to  uphold,  and  to  uplift. 

A  young  girl  from  one  of  our  wealthiest  and  most  aristocratic 
families,  when  admonished  for  opium-smoking,  replied  :  "What 
more  can  you  expect  of  us?  We  are  women  like  you.  We  have 
but  vague  ideas  of  a  better  life.  We  have  no  way  of  escape  from 

the  life  that  is  death  to  us  mentally  and  physically.     We  have    The  Chir'ess 
,  .  ,  Weimar's  la- 

women  s  diseases,  and  there  are  no  physicians  for  us.    When  wTe 

suffer  we  must  take  opium  ;  then  we  become  its  slave.  We  would 
read  and  find  out  for  ourselves  what  the  world  is  like,  but  \ve  have 
no  education  :  we  would  study,  but  there  are  no  teachers  for  us. 
There  is  no  help  for  us  except  through  the  foreigner ;  in  no  other 
way  can  we  receive  the  education  that  will  serve  to  lift  us  out  of 
the  depths  of  degradation  in  which  we  live.  In  no  other  way 
can  we  hope  for  teachers  and  physicians  who  will  make  us  men- 
tally and  physically  what  nature  intended  us  to  be.  Without 


i88 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


M  (S.    FEARN. 


The  power 
healing. 


this  help,  there  is  nothing  for  us  but  opium  and  a  life  that  is 
worse  than  death." 

This  is  only  one  of  thousands  of  such  cases.  Day  after  day 
they  come  to  us  with  the  same  pathetic  story.  They  tell  us  of 
the  dreary  monotony  of  their  lives;  they  point  with  eloquent 
silence  to  their  tiny,  tortured  feet ;  they  tell  us  with  shame  and 
helpless  misery  of  the  dread  disease  that  renders  them  unfit  for 
wifehood  and  motherhood ;  they  tell  of  sorrows  so  deep  that  all 
the  world  sems  but  a  throbbing  echo  of  the  heart  sobs  that  come 
with  their  cry  for  help.  Is  there  need  for  women  physicians  in 
China?  Ah  !  God  knows  the  need,  the  appalling  need. 

As  an  opening  wedge  there  is  no  power  so  quick  and  so  sure 
as  medicine.  When  a  dear  one  lies  at  the  point  of  death,  when 
the  native  physicians  have  done  their  best  (or  their  worst)  and 
all  hope  is  gone,  possibly  a  friend,  or  even  a  servant,  will  remem- 
ber that  strange  stories  have  been  told  them  of  a  foreign  doctor, 
and  of  his  or  her  power  to  heal ;  and,  as  a  last  resort,  we  are  called 
in.  Many  and  many  have  been  the  cases  that  have  come  to  us 
in  just  this  way;  many  lives  have  been  saved  and  friends  made. 
In  more  cases  than  we  can  tell  have  these  calls  come  from 
strongly  antiforeign  families,  and  in  no  case  where  success  has 
attended  our  efforts  have  we  failed  to  win  not  only  the  gratitude 
of  the  family  but  their  lasting  friendship.  Let  medicine,  then, 
be  the  key  to  unlock  the  doors  of  their  fast-closed  hearts  and 
homes.  An  entrance  gained  is  like  the  dawn,  to  be  followed  in 
His  own  good  time  by  the  glorious,  flooding  sunshine  of  the  new 
day. 

Visitors,  after  lengthy  journeys  through  this  vast  kingdom, 
sometimes  conclude  that  missions  are  futile,  that  China's  millions 
cannot  be  touched  by  the  tiny  handful  of  workers  in  the  Master's 
vineyard.  But  among  the  workers  there  are  no  doubters.  We 
know  what  has  been  done.  We  have  the  faith  that  can  move 
mountains,  because  we  have  the  divine  promise  that  "all  nations 
shall  serve  him."  Without  faith  in  the  power  divine,  no  one 
would  attempt  to  Christianize  China.  Xor  does  the  work  rest 
entirely  upon  the  foreigner;  native  workers  are  so  important  a 
factor  that  without  them  we  should  be  helpless.  The  great  mass 
of  the  Chinese  must  be  converted  through  the  direct  agency  of 
their  own  people.  But  these  agents  must  be  fitted  lor  the  work. 
They  must  be  educated  and  trained  to  live  as  befits  the  life  of  a 
soldier  of  the  cross.  There  must  be  schools  and  colleges  ;  there 


MEDICAL   WORK   FOR   WOMAN. 


189 


must  be  medical  schools  and  well-qualified  men  and  women. 
No  one  can  doubt  the  marvelous  potency  of  medicine  as  a  pioneer 
agency  in  opening  work,  in  making  and  keeping  friends  ;  but  un- 
less our  physicians  are  thoroughly  qualified  to  bear  the  respon- 
sibility not  only  of  lives  but  of  missions  —  yea,  even  of  the  fate 
of  kingdoms  and  of  empires,  for  from  small  mistakes  great  evils 
have  grown  —  they  had  far  better  never  touch  a  drug  or  handle  a 
knife. 

If  we  take  patients  into  our  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  we 
must  be  prepared  for  any  emergency.  We  dare  not  hold  our- 
selves responsible  for  lives  intrusted  to  our  care,  and  then  at  a 
critical  moment  find  our  equipment  insufficient.  No  other 
branch  of  the  work  calls  for  such  an  outlay,  for  such  thorough- 
ness as  to  the  smallest  detail.  No  other  branch  of  the  work 
yields  such  great  results  as  are  often  balanced  in  the  scales  held 
in  the  physician's  hands.  The  quick  use  of  the  knife,  a  timely 
drug  promptly  administered,  may  mean  a  life  saved,  and  enmity 
change  in  one  short  moment  to  lasting  friendship. 

Our  Chinese  physicians,  men  and  women,  must  have  every  ad- 
vantage that  can  be  supplied  them.  They  must  be  able  to  cope 
with  every  disease  ;  they  must  meet  on  an  equal  footing  and 
consult  with  physicians  from  all  nations,  and  physicians  who  hold  wejj 
diplomas  from  the  highest  schools  in  the  land.  Our  physicians 
must  be  so  well  fitted  for  the  work  that  we  may  never  feel 
ashamed  for  them,  that  we  may  never  fear  for  the  results  of  their 
work,  that  we  may  trust  not  only  our  own  lives,  but  the  lives  of 
those  who  are  far  dearer  than  ourselves,  into  their  keeping.  In 
all  the  work  there  is  no  greater  call  for  thoroughness,  for  your 
sympathy,  for  your  support.  In  all  the  work  there  is  no  respon- 
sibility so  great-  —  -when  the  fate  of  nations  may  hang  balanced 
on  the  point  of  a  surgeon's  knife.  Give  us  well-equipped,  edu- 
cated men  and  women  as  teachers,  and  we  will  send  out  over 
China  just  such  men  and  women  —  native  men  and  women  —  who 
will  do  what  foreigners  cannot  do,  but  who  must  get  their  train- 
ing at  foreign  hands. 

Daily  we  preach  the  doctrine  of  love,  but  think  you  that  we 
should  have  known  the  height,  the  depth,  and  breadth  of  love  if 
our  Saviour  had  not  come  down  to  live  among  us?  He  was  our 
great  Physician.  He  healed  the  sick  cleansed  the  leper;  he 
walked  among  the  poor  and  lowly  ;  he  loved  the  outcast,  and  he 
touched  but  to  heal,  to  cleanse  and  purify.  "Greater  love  hath 


MRS.    FEARN. 


e 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS.    FEARN. 


Love  the 
motive  power. 


The  object  of 
medical  work. 


no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 
Love  must  be  the  vis  a  tergo  which  sends  the  physician  to  plague- 
stricken  homes.  Love  makes  him  dress  the  foul-smelling  ulcer. 
Love  sends  him  out  from  his  home  to  spend  night  after  night  in 
cheerless  houses  working  with  those  who  have  found  life's  burden 
too  heavy  to  bear.  Without  love  our  burdens  would  be  too 
heavy.  Without  love  our  courage  would  fail  and  the  work  be 
left  undone. 

Occasionally  a  sweet  reward  is  the  doctor's.  After  some  re- 
pulsive work  a  wondering  mother  cries :  "How  great  is  her 
love !"  Often  we  are  asked :  "Have  you  father,  mother,  sisters, 
and  brothers,  and  have  you  come  across  the  deep  sea  to  heal  our 
bodies?"  Think  you  they  can  appreciate  the  Christ  love  that  we 
tell  them  about — the  love  that  fills  our  hearts,  that  prompts  us 
to  touch  the  leper,  to  help  the  fallen — unless  we  go  down  among 
them  and  lift  them  by  the  hand?  If  we  "speak  with  the  tongue 
of  men  and  of  angels,  but  have  not  love,"  think  you  that  we  can 
help  them  ?  It  must  be  "the  love  that  suffereth  long  and  is  kind," 
the  love  that  "beareth  all  things,"  "hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things ;"  the  love  that  never  faileth.  "But  now  abideth  faith, 
hope,  love,  these  three ;  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love." 

In  no  other  profession  is  one  so  often  called  upon  to  show  this 
love  as  a  concrete  expression  of  Christian  sympathy  as  in  the 
medical.  It  is  not  often  pleasant,  often  most  repulsive,  and  yet 
how  else  than  by  doing  with  our  own  hands  can  we  show  this 
love  ?  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye 
have  love  one  to  another." 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  as  physicians  we  advocate  the  preem- 
inence of  medicine  simply  as  a  life-saving  agency  as  a  factor  in 
the  work.  Without  the  Bible  in  one  hand,  the  medicine  case  is 
useless  in  the  other.  The  objective  point  of  our  work  must  be 
soul-winning ;  and  for  this,  personal  work  is  necessary.  Let  medi- 
cine be  the  means  used  to  clear  the  darkened  windows  and  open 
wide  the  door  to  the  blessed  sunshine.  Let  Christian  physicians 
be  but  the  advance  guard  of  the  army  of  the  cross,  and,  as  follow- 
ers in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus,  work  but  to  win,  endure  but  to  re- 
joice in  the  fullness  and  the  richness  of  the  joy  that  cometh  in  the 
morning. 


Section  IV. 

LITERARY  WORK. 


A  SUPREME  NEED  OF  THE  WORK  IN  CHINA.* 

REV.  YOUNG  J.  ALLEN,  D.D. 

To  an  audience  like  this,  composed  largely  of  experienced  mis- 
sionaries, it  is  hardly  necessary  that  I  should  speak  of  the  position 
and  relation,  much  less  of  the  importance  and  value,  of  literary 
work  to  the  scheme  of  missions.  For  by  this  time,  it  is  fair  to 
suppose,  there  can  scarcely  be  one  left  who  has  any  doubt  for  a 
moment  that  the  missionaries  and  missionary  societies  are  fully 
satisfied  of  its  necessity  and  are  accordingly  committed  to  do  all 
they  can  for  its  promotion.  And  that  such  is  the  case  is  most  sat- 
isfactorily proven  by  the  status  and  support  so  freely  accorded  to 
existing  institutions,  as,  for  instance,  the  Bible  Societies,  the  Reli- 
gious Tract  Societies,  the  Educational  Association,  the  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge,  the  mission 
presses,  etc. 

It  ought  not  to  be  otherwise.  "Christianity  had  its  roots  in  a 
full  and  varied  literature,"  and  on  making  its  appearance  in  any 
mission  field  it  comes  "as  a  force  requiring  suitable  expression 
and  embodiment,"  as  a  spirit  seeking  to  inform  everything  with 
which  it  comes  in  contact.  What  more  natural,  therefore,  than 
that  it  should  identify  itself  by  investment  with  the  prospective  art 
and  learning,  the  science  and  literature  of  our  missions  among  this 
great  people? 

I  would  note  also  another  point  of  hardly  less  significance  and 
importance,  doubtless  a  product  of  riper  experience  and  deeper 
insight — to  wit,  an  improved  harmony  of  opinion  and  expression 
regarding  the  different  branches  or  departments  of  missionary 
work.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  a  time  coming,  and  perhaps 
now  not  very  remote,  when  we  shall  no  longer  hear  these  spoken 

*A  paper  read  before  the  Conference  of  Missionaries  in  Shanghai  in 
February.  1901. 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

of  as  if  there  were  disparity  and  conflict  between  them ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, preaching  versus  teaching,  or  evangelization  versus  edu- 
cation, and  the  like.  A  live  Church  in  the  home  land  expresses 
itself  abroad  in  missionary  effort,  which,  to  be  aggressive  and  suc- 
cessful, must  be  organized,  the  very  idea  of  which  implies  variety 
and  relativity. in  unity,  and  no  more  suggests  conflict  than  the 
"many  members"  which  compose  the  body  or  the  five  dig- 
its which  constitute  the  human  hand. 

Another  point  of  diversity  which  is  now  fast  disappearing  is 
the  view  sometimes  taken  of  the  gospel  as  related  to  man.  It  is 
now  pretty  generally  understood  that  man  as  a  whole,  soul,  mind, 
and  body,  and  his  welfare  for  time  as  well  as  for  eternity,  embod- 
ied as  well  as  disembodied,  before  death  as  well  as  after  death, 
are  equally  held  in  contemplation  and  concern  in  the  gospel, 
whose  salvation  comprises  not  only  spiritual  regeneration,  but 
restoration  of  man's  long  lost  and  forfeited  relationships  to  God, 
to  his  fellow-man,  and  to  all  created  things — his  primordial  rela- 
tion of  sonship,  brotherhood,  and  dominion. 

Yet  one  more  point  I  must  mention  in  this  connection.  It  is 
this  :  We  have  now  reached  a  vantage  ground  in  our  experience 
and  in  the  evolution  of  our  work  where  we  can  contemplate  with 
unanimity  the  attempt  to  reach  and  provide  for  all  classes,  even 
such  as  are  styled  and  sometimes  stigmatized  as  the  higher  classes, 
though,  properly  speaking,  there  is  no  sex  or  caste  or  privileged 
class  known  to  Christianity.  The  terms  of  the  commission  are 
"all  nations,"  "every  creature." 

I  cannot  tell  you,  my  brethren,  how  very  profoundly  the  above 
facts — for  I  believe  them  to  be  such — have  affected  my  view  of  the 
future  of  our  work  in  China.  This  is  an  aspect  and  proof  of  unity 
among  God's  people  in  this  greatest  of  all  mission  fields  worthy 
to  be  handed  down  from  the  century  which  has  just  closed,  and 
fraught  with  an  augury  most  auspicious  to  the  century  whose 
portals  are  now  thrown  open  to  our  advancing  enterprise. 

By  this  token  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  among  us,  and  his  people 
are  preparing  for  such  a  testimony  as  cannot  fail  to  fulfill  the 
prayer  of  our  great  High  Priest,  and  increase  a  thousandfold  the 
scope  and  effectiveness  of  his  promulgated  gospel,  the  truth  and 
power  of  which  will  in  no  small  degree  be  beholden  to  such  proofs 
of  our  love  and  unity. 

Fortified  by  these  few  preliminary  considerations,  indicative  of 


A    SUPREME    NEED    OF   THE    WORK    IN    CHINA.  193 

what  is  conceived  to  be  a  most  gratifying  attitude  of  the  mis-  ALLEN- 
sionary  mind  toward  the  future  expansion  and  development  of 
our  work,  I  now  venture  to  call  attention  to  what  may  possibly  The  uterary 
have  impressed  others  as  well  as  myself  as  being  the  supreme  work, 
need  of  the  hour — to  wit,  the  establishment  of  a  literary  depart- 
ment of  missions,  or,  if  that  name  is  preferred,  a  department  01 
literature.     As  literary  work  is  a  necessity,  and  from  this  time 
forth  ever-increasing  demands  will  be  made  upon  us  in  this  re- 
gard, the  present  time,  both  in  its  relation  to  the  calendar  and  in 
its  relation  to  the  new  era  which  is  about  to  be  inaugurated  in  the 
history  of  this  ancient  land,  would  seem  eminently  appropriate 
and  opportune  for  the  establishment  of  such  a  department  ot 
missions. 

There  is  not  time  to  discuss  the  matter  at  any  length;  nor  in- 
deed is  it  necessary,  seeing,  as  I  presume  is  the  case,  that  we  are 
all  pretty  much  of  the  same  mind  in  regard  to  the  general  sub- 
ject. It  may  not  be  out  of  place,  however,  to  briefly  indicate  some 
of  the  special  reasons  which  are  known  to  have  a  particular  bear- 
ing on  the  need  for  such  work,  and  accordingly  greatly  emphasize 
the  demand  for  such  a  department. 

In  this  category  it  will  suffice,  perhaps,  if  we  name  only  two — to 
wit :  First,  the  mutually  obligatory  relations  between  China  and 
Christendom  ;  and  secondly,  the  insufficiency  of  our  present  equip- 
ment. 

By  treaties  already  existing,  to  say  nothing  of  the  capitulations 
now  in  process  of  negotiation,  China  has  been  constituted  a  po 
litical  and  moral  ward  of  Christendom ;  and  by  virtue  of  this  re- 
lationship, as  well  as  the  terms  of  their  original  calling  and  com- 
mission, the  missionaries,  who  are  the  immediate  representatives 
of  the  intellectual  and  moral  forces  of  our  Western  civilization, 
are  called  upon  to  assume  the  high  and  responsible  position  of 
acting  as  the  guide,  the  philosopher,  and  friend  of  China,  in  other 
words  as  a  teacher,  a  term  which  I  use  in  its  most  comprehensive 
sense,  as  embracing  every  phase  of  our  contact,  every  impression 
of  our  presence.  Well  might  we  stand  appalled  in  this  presence 
and  wonderingly  question  among  ourselves,  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things? 

For  myself  I  most  frankly  confess  that  it  was  not  until  I  had 
been  in  this  country  many  years  that  I  attained  to  anything  like 
an  adequate  view  of  the  actual  condition  and  needs  of  China  arr' 

n 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

its  people,  nor  was  it  till  then  that  I  began  to  comprehend  the 
actual  gravity  and  demands  of  a  situation  which,  one  almost  fal- 
ters in  saying,  lays  on  us  the  burden  of  China's  enlightenment  and 
salvation. 

Referring  to  China,  hitherto  so  reluctant  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion assigned  to  her  and  "learn,"  as  she  has  been  exhorted  to  do, 
by  one  of  her  most  powerful  Viceroys,  it  may  now  be  confidently 
asserted  that,  after  the  late  disastrous  experiences,  more  than  du- 
plicating those  of  half  a  dozen  years  previous,  she  will  henceforth 
accept  the  inevitable,  and  adjust  herself  to  meet  the  issues  and 
learn  the  lessons  not  of  the  old  but  the  new  China.  And  judging 
by  the  wonderful  unanimity  of  sentiment  throughout  the  country 
in  favor  of  reform  and  progress,  it  may  be  as  confidently  expected 
that,  with  the  suppression  of  the  recent  violent  reaction,  there  will 
forthwith  be  a  renewed  and  strengthened  expression  of  opinion 
favorable  to  a  permanent  and  cordial  policy  of  amity  and  peace, 
accompanied  by  the  most  unmistakable  tokens  that  the  country 
is  now  ready  to  welcome  at  our  hands  the  best  it  is  in  our  power 
to  bestow,  or  in  their  capacity  to  receive. 

What,  therefore,  we  have  now  to  contemplate  and  prepare  to 
meet  is  no  longer  an  inert,  stolid,  or  recalitrant  China,  but  a  China 
mobilized,  awake,  and  ready  for  action — in  a  word,  made  willing. 

What  such  a  change  in  the  attitude  and  sentiment  of  this  coun- 
try signifies  to  China  herself,  or  means  to  us,  fortunately  is  not 
left  to  conjecture,  for  already,  some  two  or  three  years  ago,  we 
have  received  full  intimation  of  what  may  now  be  expected  under 
the  prospect  of  still  favorable  and  permanent  auspices. 

Details  here  are  abundant  and  might  be  interesting,  but  I  for- 
bear save  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  present  wheeling 
into  line  of  this  ancient  people  brings  us  face  to  face  with 
China's  most  urgent  need — to  wit,  light  and  leading — and 
without  delaying  to  argue  the  point  further,  I  hesitate  not  in  say- 
ing that,  without  some  such  provision  as  has  already  been  indi- 
cated— to  wit,  a  literary  department  of  missions — it  will  be  almost 
altogether  out  of  our  power  to  supply  either  on  a  scale  at  all  com- 
mensurate with  the  demand. 

This  conclusion  is  rendered  all  the  more  emphatic  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  such  a  department  all  the  more  imperative  by 
reason  of  the  limitations  and  insufficiency  of  our  present  insti- 
tutions. 


A    SUPREME    NEED    OF   THE   WORK    IN    CHINA.  195 

The  Bible  and  Tract  Societies  are  perhaps  our  very  greatest  ALLEN- 
missionary  institutions,  and  their  services  in  the  foreign  mission 
field  have  been  simply  invaluable  and  incalculable ;  but  they  were  Bible  and 
never  intended,  nor  do  thy  pretend,  to  cover  all  the  needs  of  a  tract  socle- 
field  like  this.     Their  limitations,  both  constitutional  and  oth-  * 
erwise,  make  it  quite  impracticable  and  impossible  for  them  to 
do  so. 

The  same  also  is  the  case  with  the  Educational  Association, 
which,  be  it  never  so  diligent  and  productive,  can  hardly  hope 
to  more  than  keep  pace  with  the  demands  which  will  inevitably 
come  up,  shortly,  in  its  own  proper  limits.  For,  as  I  take  it, 
the  future  educational  advance  both  in  the  matter  of  suggestion 
and  the  required  literature  for  the  schools,  must  be  largely  pro- 
vided by  the  Association,  which  accordingly  will  find  along  that 
line  its  most  appropriate,  congenial,  and  useful  literary  effort. 

From  these  institutions  we  turn  next  to  the  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge  among  the  Chi- 
nese, which  was  specially  called  into  existence  for  a  time  like  this, 
and  for  a  work  such  as  is  now  about  to  be  called  for  in  over- 
whelming measure. 

But  this  Society  also  has  its  limitations  and  embarrassments. 
It  is  set  to  produce  a  diffusible  literature  on  all  subjects,  Chris- 
tian and  general,  and  has  done  enough  already  to  pass  success-  Christian  Ht- 
ftilly  the  experimental  stage  and  establish  its  name  and  capabili- 
ties.  It  thus  forms  a  satisfactory  nucleus  for  such  a  department 
of  literature  as  has  been  advocated  above.  What  is  now  wanted 
to  complete  its  organization  and  more  fully  assure  its  status  and 
possibilities  is  a  larger  addition  to  its  working  staff  and  recog- 
nition by  all  missionary  authorities,  both  in  the  home  land  and 
in  the  foreign  field,  by  which  I  mean  their  active  support  and 
cooperation.* 

As  to  the  unquestioned  benefits  of  such  a  society  or  depart- 
ment of  missions,  it  would  be  almost  superfluous  to  speak.  There 
is  no  branch  or  department  of  work  which  would  not  be  a  sharer 
of  its  services  and  profit  by  its  labors. 

*The  leading  missionary  societies  of  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  Amer- 
ica— c.  <r.,  the  Church  of  England,  English  Baptist,  English  Wesleyan,  Lon- 
don Missionary  Societies,  German  Evangelical,  Canadian  Presbyterian,  and 
the  two  great  Methodist  bodies  (North  and  South)  in  the  United  States — are 
alreadv  cooperating 


196  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Allow  me,  by  way  of  illustrating  the  character  and  extent  of 
such  usefulness,  to  refer  briefly  to  the  history  of  the  Wan  Kwoh 
Knng  Pa-o,  or  Review  of  tlie  Times.  I  note  the  following  point's : 

1.  This  periodical  was  established  in  the  year  1868  to  meet  a 
AH  example,      definite  demand  which  the  missionaries  then  felt  to  exist;  and 

was  designed  to  circulate  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  personal 
influence,  and  particularly  among  the  official  and  literary  classes, 
whom  otherwise  it  was  apparently  impossible  to  reach. 

2.  Its  success  has  been  phenomenal,  surpassing  the  most  san- 
guine expectations,  as  it  was  welcomed  alike  cordially  not  only 
in  the  capitals  and  provinces  of  China,  but  also  in  Japan  and 
Korea.     Through  the  Japanese  consulate  at  Shanghai  the  Mikado 
(Emperorj  and  his  cabinet  ministers  and  also  many  of  the  high 
officials  in  the  provinces  became  subscribers  for  a  number  of  years 
before  Japan  was  supplied  by  similar  publications  at  home.       It 
was  through  the  medium  of  the  Kung  Pao  that  Dr.  Williamson's 
very  able  work  on  natural  theology  was  introduced  to  the  Japa- 
nese, and  reprinted  there  by  special  permission  of  the  Emperor, 
who  had  read  the  chapters  as  they  appeared  successively  in  that 
periodical.     In  Korea  it  also  finds  acceptance  and  is  regularly 
supplied  to  the  court  and  a  number  of  high  officials  ;  while  in 
China,  from  the  very  first,  it  has  found  large  access  and  been  wel- 
comed among  all  classes,  both  in  the  home  land  and  also  in  all 
lands  wherever  the  Chinese  sojourn. 

3.  It  has  served  as  a  persuasive  preacher  and  led  not  a  few  to 
Christ  and  into  the  Church,  many  of  whom  are  now  preachers 
and  teachers  of  the  gospel. 

4.  Its  wide  circulation  among  the  literati  and  other  reading 
classes  has  led  to  large  sales  of  our  Christian  books,  and  created 
an  ever-increasing  demand  for  general  literature. 

5.  In  particular,  it  has  been  widely  useful  to  the   Bible   So- 
cieties, inducing  many  to  buy  and  read  our  great  and  holy  classic, 
the  Bible. 

6.  It  has  also  published  many  articles  which  have  been  after- 
wards reprinted  in  the  form  of  tracts,  booklets,  etc.     Also  many 
larger  works  first  passed  through  its  pages,  as,  for  instance,  "Nat- 
ural Theology,"  "China  and  Her  Neighbors,"  "Political  Econo- 
my/' "History  of  the  China  and  Japan  War,"  "Philosophy  of  the 
Plan  of  Salvation,"  etc. 

7.  It  has,  of  course,  always  been  the  ally  and  advocate  of  the 
highest  and  best  education,  and  it  has  the  distinction  of  having 


A    SUPREME    NEED    OF   THE    WORK    IN    CHINA.  197 

led  in  many  important  phases  of  reform  ;  while  to-day,  after  the  ALLEN- 
lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years,  all  the  time  under  one  editor,  it 
enjoys  a  wider  confidence  and  wields  for  good  a  more  extended 
and  powerful  influence  than  any  time  before.  Thus  has  this  pe- 
riodical more  than  met  the  expectations  of  its  founder  and  editor, 
and  gives  assurance  of  still  greater  results. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  value  and  diffusibility  of  similar 
literature  I  might  refer  to  other  publications  issued  by  the  So- 
ciety  for  the  Diffusion  of  Christian   and   General   Knowledge  lts  publica. 
among  the  Chinese,  but  the  above  will  perhaps  suffice  to  indicate  tions- 
the  character  and  extent  of  the  need  which  such  a  department  of 
missions  would  be  required  to  meet  and  supply,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  sufficiently  evidences  the  accessibility  of  the  people,  high 
and  low,  and  their  readiness  to  accept  and  benefit  by  our  advances 
on  their  behalf. 

My  time  limit  is  now  about  reached.  Further  details  are  in- 
possible.  But  before  closing  the  subject  I  must  emphasize  the 
opportunity  which  such  a  favorable  state  of  things  in  China  and 
the  other  pagan  kingdoms  of  the  far  East  now  presents  to  the 
Churches  at  home  and  to  their  agents  ana  representatives  in  these 
foreign  fields. 

Nothing  like  it  was  ever  seen  in  all  the  history  of  the  Church 
before — such  unity  of  sentiment,  such  readiness  to  cooperate  on 
i he  part  of  the  missionaries  and  such  a  forward  state  of  prepared- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  peoples  of  these  ancient  lands ! 

And  wonderful,  wonderful  beyond  all  expression,  is  the  fact 
that  through  the  medium  of  the  Chinese  written  language  it  is   me  orient 
possible  to  address  our  message,  directly  and  indirectly,  to  nearly   ^"i!?leh 
five  hundred  millions  of  people — the  inhabitants  of  China  and  its   Chinese  lan- 
dependencies,  and  Japan  and  Korea  being  almost  equally  accessi- 
b'.e. 

Opportunity  so  favorable,  so  vast !  \Yhat  does  it  mean?  What 
but  an  obligation  equally  vast  and  comprehensive?  Think  of  it! 
The  need — vast  as  heathendom  !  The  opportunity — vast  as  the 
need!  The  obligation — vast  as  the  opportunity  and  the  need 
combined!  How  shall  we  meet  them? 

Is  it  too  much  to  ask,  and  insist  on  it,  that  the  Churches  and 
missionary  boards  of  Christendom  should  at  the  beginning  of 
this  the  twentieth  century  add  yet  one  more  eloquent  power  to 
their  great  missionarv  agencies,  and  establish  without  further  cle- 


198  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

lay  this  already  urgently  needed  department  of  literature  for  mis- 
sions? 

To  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  to  the  Boards  of 
Missions  and  their  representatives  in  this  field,  at  least,  no  ad- 

opportunities    vance  should  be  more  welcome  or  meet  with  more  enthusiastic 
of  the  future. 

support.     There  are  many  Churches  and  societies  represented 

here  in  the  far  East,  and  a  great  work  is  being  accomplished 
through  their  combined  influence;  but  what  mission,  what  so- 
ciety, what  Board — indeed,  I  might  ask,  what  individual  represent- 
ative missionary — is  satisfied  with  the  present  attainments?  It  is 
the  opinion  of  the  leading  men  in  this  field  that  the  work  has  but 
just  begun,  and  that  the  new  openings  and  wider  opportunities 
invite  a  forward  movement  more  nearly  commensurate  with  the 
obligations  that  come  to  us  in  the  revelations  of  the  new  century 
and  the  opening  of  a  new  era  of  missions  in  China. 

In  comparison  with  some  other  Churches  and  Boards  our  rep- 
resentatives in  this  vast  field  are  by  no  means  so  numerous,  nor 
do  they  occupy  so  many  stations,  but  in  point  of  comprehension 
and  insight  of  the  situation  and  the  strategical  wisdom  and  value 
of  their  system  and  methods  of  work,  they  yield  to  none.  Our 
scheme  of  missions  comprehends  China  and  all  its  peoples,  and 
while  it  gives  first  place  to  a  wide,  thorough,  and  persistent  sys- 
tem of  evangelization  v'rca  voce — preaching — it  as  consistently 
demands  and  establishes  a  great  variety  of  schools,  ranging  from 
the  primary  to  the  college  and  university,  these  being  essentially 
fundamental  in  a  country  like  China.  But  that  is  not  all.  While 
our  numbers  are  necessarily  limited,  it  is  possible  for  them  to  mul- 
tiply themselves  a  thousandfold  by  means  of  a  department  of  lit- 
erature assisted  by  the  establishment  of  our  contemplated  print- 
ing press  and  Publishing  House  for  the  production  and  distribu- 
tion of  Bibles,  books,  tracts,  and  periodicals;  in  other  words,  a 
Christian  and  general  literature  for  diffusion  and  use  among  the 
accessible  and  e1  en  the  otherwise  inaccessible  millions  of  this  vast 
missionary  field. 

This  is  the  scope,  character,  and  culmination  of  the  work  now 
projected  by  our  representatives  in  China.  And  should  the  re- 
sult of  the  first  General  Missionary  Conference  but  be  the  re- 
sanction  and  confirmation  to  them  of  their  aspirations,  accompa- 


LITERARY    WORK!   A   GENERAL   SURVEY.  199 

nied  with  the  assurance  of  the  Boards  and  the  Church  at  large 
that  the  university  at  Soochow  and  the  Publishing  House  at 
Shanghai  shall  without  doubt  be  sustained,  then  indeed  may  all 
our  people  rejoice,  in  America  and  throughout  our  mission  lands, 
and  all  unite  in  acclaiming  the  Conference  to  be  first  not  only  in 
the  century,  but  first  also  in  a  double  sense  in  our  missionary  his- 
tory. 


A   GENERAL  SURVEY. 

REV.    G.    B.    WINTON. 

THE  art  of  printing  by  means  of  movable  types  is  more  closely 
bound  up  with  modern  human  progress  than  any  other.  When, 
after  the  lethargy  of  the  Middle  Ages,  free  thought  was  born 
again,  this  invention  was  at  hand  as  a  nursing  mother.  Then 
followed  the  mechanical  application  of  steam,  and  with  these,  lib- 
erty, books,  power,  the  framework  of  nineteenth  century  civiliza- 
tion was  already  wrought. 

It  is  an  axiom  of  psychology  that  the  springs  of  action  are  in 
thought.     The  emotions  swell  and  the  will  determines  only  as 
the   intellect   is   aroused.     Thus,   in  so   far  as   it  is  potent  to  The  spring*  of 
awaken  the  minds  of  men  the  printed  page  is  a  factor  in  human  *™ 

activity.  In  the  realm  of  missions  it  may  be  made  to  stir  the 
heart  of  those  who  have  the  gospel,  and  to  flash  the  truth  into 
minds  that  have  not  yet  received  it.  It  is  not  so  potent,  to  be 
sure,  in  the  partially  civilized  communities  of  our  foreign  mis- 
sion fields  as  among  ourselves.  Yet  it  is  an  instrument  for 
propagating  the  truth  no  missionary  is  willing  to  be  without. 
We  must  have  the  Book  of  books,  especially,  in  languages  un- 
derstood by  the  people. 

This  twofold  field  for  missionary  literature  divides  our  sub- 
ject for  us.  We  consider,  first,  its  uses  among  Christians ;  second- 
ly, books,  tracts,  and  papers  as  a  means  of  drawing  men  to  Christ. 
These  two  classes  of  literature  are  separated  not  only  by  their  ob- 
ject, but  by  a  difference  in  language.  The  first  is  in  English,  a  lan- 
guage which  is  not  only  used  by  most  of  the  aggressive  mission- 
ary Churches,  but  is  also  spreading  through  the  world.  As  Greek 


2OO 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


In  English. 


The  Church's 
duty. 


gave  the  world  its  literature,  and  Latin  its  law,  may  not  the  Eng- 
lish aspire  to  the  still  higher  office  of  giving  humanity  the  gospel  ? 
The  second  class  of  missionary  literature  is  necessarily  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  field  where  it  is  to  be  employed.  Either  de- 
partment of  this  subject  might  well  fill  the  whole  space  allotted 
to  my  paper. 

I.  The  creation  and  use  of  a  genuine  missionary  literature  in 
English  is  a  matter  of  profound  importance.  Our  language  is 
rapidly  becoming  a  world  tongue.  In  China  and  the  Orient 
"pidgin  English"  is  a  monument  to  its  prevalence  in  "business." 
In  Spanish-speaking  countries  no  young  man  considers  that  he 
is  ready  for  a  successful  career  till  he  has  studied  English.  There 
are  even  signs  that  it  is  about  to  displace  French  in  diplomatic 
circles.  Certainly  it  is  the  chief  medium  of  communication 
among  those  who  are  just  now  busiest  about  the  world's  salva- 
tion. Whatever  is  written  in  it  is  written  for  a  constituency  that 
reaches  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

In  his  address  before  the  Ecumenical  Conference  last  year  Dr. 
Charles  Cuthbert  Hall  set  forth  with  great  vigor  and  eloquence 
that  all  students  for  the  ministry  should  become  missionaries — • 
in  spirit  if  not  in  reality.  They  must  go  or  send.  Within  a  brief 
time  it  will  be  seen  that  no  lower  ground  is  possible  for  any 
Christian.  All  are  levied  for  this  war.  We  must  march  to  the 
front  ourselves  or  find  a  substitute. 

That  the  Church  may  come  to  this  high  degree  of  military 
efficiency,  two  things  are  required  :  first,  the  clear  bringing  home 
to  all  that  the  command  to  disciple  the  nations  is  meant  for  us — 
each  of  us  ;  and  secondly,  a  vivid  statement  of  the  real  situation  as 
it  exists  upon  our  mission  fields.  Such  is  the  convincing  power 
of  concrete  facts,  and  such  the  affinity  between  Christian  zeal  and 
opportunity  for  service,  that  missionary  fire  is  sure  to  flame  up 
when  the  Church's  life  is  fed  with  this  fuel. 

The  first  of  these  two  needs — that  is,  the  enforcement  of  Christ's 
great  command  upon  the  individual  Christian — is  an  obligation 
that  must  rest  mainly  upon  the  preacher  rather  than  the  writer. 
Certainly  in  this  day,  when  rapid  travel,  world-wide  commerce, 
the  telegraph  and  telephone  have  bound  all  nations  into  a  com- 
mon family,  when  the  brotherhood  of  man  is  proclaimed,  by  a 
thousand  clamorous  voices,  when  philanthropy  and  altruism  are 
become  a  fashion,  the  prophet  of  the  Son  of  Man  ought  not  to 


LITERARY    WORK:   A    GENERAL    SURVEY.  2OI 

find  missions  an  alien  or  uninteresting  subject.  On  the  contrary,  WINTON- 
if  he  is  wise,  he  will  see  that  an  unsympathetic  attitude  toward 
this  cause  may  make  his  whole  ministry  fruitless.  Says  Dr.  The  preacher 
Henry  Van  Dyke  in  a  recent  book :  "If  the  modern  world  is  to 
hear  the  message  of  the  Cross,  it  must  speak  the  language  of 
to-day,  the  language  of  universal  atonement  and  foreign  mis- 
sions." We  commend  these  weighty  words  to  those  pastors  who 
are  haunted  by  the  specter  of  an  unfruitful  ministry.  Are  they 
putting  the  message  of  the  cross  in  the  language  of  to-day? 
Human  sympathies  are  very  broad  now.  It  is  a  superficial  induc- 
tion which  concludes  because  of  a  few  blatant  objectors  that  the 
sentiment  of  our  times  is  hostile  to  foreign  missions. 

Given  this  clear  statement  of  Christian  duty  under  Christ's 
commission  on  the  part  of  those  who  lead  our  Church  at  home, 
then  the  needs  of  the  unevangelized  nations  appeal  to  awakened 
Christian  consciences  exactly  in  the  measure  in  which  those  needs 
are  known.  Here  is  the  opportunity  of  the  writer.  Books,  pa- 
pers, leaflets,  fugitive  articles,  maps  even,  and  pictures,  in  illus- 
tration of  those  nations  as  a  field  for  work,  will  find  a  glad  wel- 
come. Such  is  the  union  between  knowledge  and  sympathy  that 
any  kind  of  information  about  a  country  helps  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions in  that  country. 

This  opens  an  immense  and  enticing  field  for  authors.  Has  a 
nation  a  history  which  reaches  into  the  dim  twilight  of  the  past, 
and  through  which  runs  a  golden  thread  of  human  interest?  It 
should  be  told.  The  greatness  of  China  Christianized,  for  exam- 
ple, is  hinted  at  in  her  achievements  by  the  dim  light  of  Con- 
fucius. Every  nation  has  its  romance.  The  life  of  its  people  in 
the  past,  as  well  as  their  life  to-day,  is  a  theme  of  perennial  charm. 
And  the  countries  themselves,  their  climate,  scenery,  products, 
and  possibilities  ;  what  life  in  them  is  like,  and  how  it  compares  The 
with  ours  at  home,  their  houses,  their  roads,  their  rivers,  their 
citus.  their  farm.-. — all  this,  if  clearly  and  brightlv  told,  will  find 
thousands  of  hungry  readers. 

The  preparation  of  such  books,  if  prayerfully  clone,  the  writer 
not  forgetting  also  the  value  of  literarv  finish,  is  as  truly  mis- 
sionary work  as  evangelizing  from  village  to  village.  Our  own 
Church  has  clone  too  little  of  it.  Where  can  our  young  people 
find  a  book  about  Brazil  which,  while  describing  the  country  and 
people,  dwells  also  upon  Christian  work  among  them?  Since  we 


2O2 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  books  we 
need. 


A  science  of 

missions. 


can  read  about  a  "Naturalist  on  the  Amazon,"  why  can  we  not 
about  a  "Missionary  on  the  Amazon?"  The  tropic  valleys,  the 
green  hills,  the  roaring  streams,  the  vast  forests,  the  flashing 
birds,  the  liberty-loving  people — in  such  a  setting  the  story  of 
the  gospel  and  its  work  is  an  apple  of  gold  in  a  picture  of  silver. 
Of  Cuba,  Mexico,  and  Japan  we  have  had  fleeting  glimpses,  but 
the  half  has  not  been  told.  These  countries  are  crammed  with 
the  most  enticing  of  literary  material — antiquities,  natural  scen- 
ery, national  traits,  striking  political  situations,  engaging  possi- 
bilities for  the  future — what  more  could  be  asked?  And  what 
shall  we  say  of  China,  huge,  hoary,  awe-inspiring?  She  is  as  opu- 
lent of  matter  for  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  as  of  puzzling  situ- 
ations and  incalculable  possibilities  for  the  statesman. 

And  so  swiftly  flies  the  shuttle  of  progress,  so  rapidly  is  fate's 
webb  unrolled,  that  exhaustion  of  any  of  these  subjects  is  impos- 
sible. What  is  written  now  will  need  to  be  replaced  ten  years 
hence.  May  we  not  hope  that  some  of  this  golden  treasure  of 
missionary  literature  will  soon  be  poured  into  the  lap  of  an  ex- 
pectant Church? 

Richer,  too,  than  all  the  stories  of  the  nations  in  its  potency 
upon  the  heart  of  the  Church  is  the  unvarnished  story  of  the  life 
and  work  of  missionaries  themselves.  Biography  is  history  con- 
densed. A  personality  ever  lends  a  living  interest.  Our  own 
Church's  half  century  of  labor  in  foreign  lands  has  left  us  already 
a  heritage  of  priceless  names.  The  lives  of  these  men  and  women 
ought  to  be  written. 

Still  another  department  of  literature  is  waiting  to  be  devel- 
oped. We  lack  a  science  of  missions.  Our  candidates  ought  not 
to  be  sent  to  the  foreign  field  without  special  training.  Several 
books  have  appeared  which  contribute  to  the  formation  of  such  a 
science,  but  they  are  only  a  beginning.  And  especially  by  our 
own  Church  has  little  been  done.  The  collation,  examination, 
and  classification  of  facts  to  fix  the  true  meaning  and  place  of 
self-support,  evangelizing,  day  schools,  boarding  schools,  med- 
ical work,  Church  organizations,  etc.,  ought  to  go  on  constantly, 
so  that  at  an  early  day  we  may  be  able  to  place  in  the  hands  of 
young  missionaries  condensed  manuals  containing  the  ripened 
judgment  of  their  predecessors  on  all  these  vital  topics.  We  are 
burning  too  much  unbeaten  oil  in  the  Lord's  sanctuary. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  production  of  such  books  as 


LITERARY    WORK:   A   GENERAL   SURVEY.  203 

have  been  described  should  be  followed  by  their  circulation.  We  WINTON'- 
lack  a  plan  for  this.  Missionary  libraries,  somewhat  after  the  pat- 
tern of  the  Student  Volunteer  library,  might  be  useful.  A 
carefully  prepared  descriptive  catalogue  and  price  list  of  books 
now  to  be  had  would  certainly  be  of  value.  Every  missionary 
society  and  Sunday  school  should  have  a  constantly  growing 
library  of  the  choicest  books  on  missions,  and  every  pastor  would 
do  well  to  busy  himself  with  the  circulation  of  these  bulletins  of 
the  Christian  warfare. 

II.  The  second  great  department  of  my  subject  is  that  of  liter- 
ature in  the  vernacular.  This  means  books,  papers,  and  tracts 
for  use  in  propagating  the  gospel  on  the  foreign  fields  themselves. 

It  should  be  observed,  first,  that  in  the  majority  of  countries  IE  the 
where  we  are  at  work  the  people  are  just  now  awakening  to  in-  vernacular, 
tellectual  life.  We  may  lay  it  down  as  a  universal  rule  that,  while 
they  may  not  wish  the  gospel  as  such,  they  are  hungry  for  some- 
thing to  read.  It  is  said  that  devout  Mohammedans  treasure 
every  scrap  of  printing,  not  willing  that  it  should  trampled  upon 
lest  it  contain  the  name  of  Allah.  This  exaggerated  reverence 
is  a  symbol  of  the  power  of  the  printed  page.  Illiterate  people 
hold  the  editor  of  a  paper  responsible  even  for  the  advertisements. 
(That  is  not  a  bad  scheme,  by  the  way.)  If  it  is  printed,  it  must 
be  so.  When  so  many  of  our  own  people  yield  to  this  feeling, 
how  much  more  will  the  "little  ones"  of  a  country  where  thought 
has  been  stunted  for  centuries !  Among  them  the  very  scarcity 
of  printed  matter  makes  it  precious.  The  high  price  of  paper,  the 
rarity  of  presses,  and  the  slight  development  of  literary  activity 
cause  this  scarcity  in  all  uncultured  countries.  In  many  of  these 

countries  schools  are  just  now  beginning  to  make  the  ability  to 

j  ....  ....  1-1  •      j  A     The  beginnings 

read  general.    Anything  printed  is  immediately  seized  upon.    A  of  intellectual 

drunken,  exiled  Mexican  major  slept  one  night  in  the  fodder  of  Hfe- 
a  corral  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande.  In  the  morning 
he  picked  out  of  the  thorny  brush  fence  a  bit  of  faded  paper,  and 
to  while  away  the  time  began  to  read.  It  was  a  leaf  from  the 
Book  of  Life,  and  in  his  own  language.  That  officer  was  after- 
wards Rev.  Alejandro  de  Leon,  who  went  to  his  reward  in  1899 
while  pastor  of  our  Mexican  Church  at  Del  Rio,  Tex.,  one  of  the 
most  honored  and  useful  ministers  in  the  Border  Conference. 
That  scrap  of  paper  from  the  hedge  of  the  goat  corral  was  the 


204 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  Bible  so- 
cieties. 


Christian  lit- 
erature socle- 
Ties. 


beginning  of  his  interest  in  the  gospel  which  he  afterwards 
preached  so  long  and  eloquently. 

Such  stories  of  the  power  of  God's  Word  could  be  multiplied 
indefinitely.  It  is  the  choicest  and  most  potent  product  of  the 
printing  press.  Without  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  we  should 
be  hampered  beyond  measure.  But  that  Providence  which  has 
watched  over  this  priceless  legacy  for  so  many  centuries  gave  us 
at  the  proper  time  the  great  Bible  societies.  They  are  the  pio- 
neers of  all  mission  work,  as  the  Bible  is  its  true  foundation. 
Their  agents  and  colporteurs  are  in  every  field,  and  the  Bibles, 
Testaments,  and  portions  with  which  they  sow  down  the  virgin 
soil  are  the  seed  of  the  kingdom.  Our  indebtedness  as  Churches, 
Boards,  and  missionaries  to  these  great  benevolences  will  never 
be  known,  much  less  repaid.  Every  day  of  reflection  and  obser- 
vation increases  my  regard  for  them.  Their  name  is  as  ointmem 
poured  forth.  Generations  yet  unborn  will  call  them  blessed. 

Their  relations  with  missionaries,  both  in  translation  and  dis- 
tribution, are  usually  of  the  most  cordial  sort.  A  paper  presented 
at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  New  York  suggested  that,  in 
view  of  the  increasing  burdens  of  these  societies,  and  the  very 
general  distribution  of  missionaries,  it  would  be  only  a  fair  divi- 
sion of  labor  if  they  and  the  tract  societies  confined  themselves 
to  the  production,  while  the  various  boards  and  their  mission- 
aries took  charge  of  the  dissemination  of  Bibles  and  tracts.  (Re- 
port, Vol.  II.,  page  80.)  This  is  a  reasonable  suggestion. 

Closely  allied  in  their  work  and  its  importance  with  the  Bible 
societies  are  the  great  Christian  literature  societies,  of  which 
the  best  known  example  in  this  hemisphere  is  the  American 
Tract  Society.  It  has  brought  laborers  in  Spanish-speaking 
countries  under  lasting  obligation,  as  this  speaker  can  testify, 
and  is  sending  out  a  flood  of  choice  reading  in  a  large  number  of 
other  modern  languages. 

( )n  the  fields  themselves  some  societies  auxiliary  to  these  par- 
ent bodies  have  been  organized,  whose  work  has  been  far-reach- 
ing. Among  the  more  successful  ot  them  are  the  Christian  Lit- 
erature Society  of  India  and  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Knowledge  in  China,  an  important  figure  in  the  latter  being  our 
own  Dr.  Allen. 

These  societies,  as  well  as  superintendents  of  mission  presses 
and  other  minor  agencies  in  producing  a  vernacular  literature. 


LITERARY    WORK:  A  GENERAL  SURVEY.  205 

have  wisely  included  in  their  list  schoolbooks  and  others  of  a  WINT 
miscellaneous  character.  These  are  the  "thin  edge  of  the  Chris- 
tian wedge,"  to  use  the  phrase  of  an  officer  of  the  Christian  Liter- 
ature Society.  They  enforce  the  Christian  standpoint ;  without 
being  specifically  religious  books,  they  create  respect  for  the  reli- 
gious opinions  of  their  writers.  Dr.  Allen's  widely  read  "History 
of  the  War  between  China  and  Japan"  has  given  him  to  a  strik- 
ing degree  the  ear  of  thoughtful  Chinese. 

From  these  societies,  concerned  especially  in  the  production 
of  tracts,  we  pass  at  once  to  the  related  field  of  periodicals,  and 
will  revert  later  to  books  in  the  vernacular.  The  missionary  peri- 
odical serves  in  a  large  degree  the  same  purpose  as  a  Church 
organ  at  home.  It  contains  doctrine,  news,  miscellany,  and,  if 
possible,  pictures.  It  is  aggressively  evangelical,  and  sometimes, 
though  not  wisely,  aggressively  hostile  to  indigenous  religions.  The 
It  is  the  vade  mecum  of  the  evangelist  and  pastor,  his  excuse  for  ary  periodical. 
introducing  himself  among  the  indifferent  but  well-to-do  who  are 
able  to  subscribe  for  a  paper,  and  his  assistant  in  keeping  con- 
verts upon  the  highway  of  progress.  Times  without  number  it 
has  carried  the  gospel  story  to  the  ignorant  and  been  a  messenger 
of  life  to  those  that  sat  in  darkness.  So  universally  valuable,  not 
to  say  essential,  has  it  been  found  that,  though  it  is  a  drain  upon 
mission  funds  and  among  the  very  last  of  all  our  enterprises  to 
become  self-sustaining,  no  one  thinks  of  dispensing  with  it.  It 
is  manifest  economy,  however,  for  several  Churches  in  the  same 
field  to  unite  on  one  organ.  Allied  with  the  missionary  periodical 
are  the  Sunday  school  leaflets,  of  which  space  will  not  permit 
me  to  speak. 

Taking  up,  in  conclusion,  the  far-reaching  subject  of  a  perma- 
nent vernacular  literature  in  the  form  of  books,  I  find  myself  long- 
ing to  give  a  whole  paper  to  so  important  a  theme.  Translation 
will  be  first  thought  of,  and  many  books  have  been  translated,  vernacular 
some  well,  others  badly.  Mistakes  have  been  mack  and  much 
labor  wasted.  But  as  experience  accumulates,  order  is  coming" 
out  of  this  chaos.  Certain  well-defined  principles  of  procedure 
are  emerging.  It  is  agreed,  for  example,  that  the  actual  work 
of  translation  should  be  done  by  those  who  translate  into  their 
own  tongue.  Xo  man  of  English  speech,  who  attempts  to  turn 
it  into  a  foreign  language,  can  ever  rid  himself  or  his  work  of 
the  Saxon  flavor.  Should  his  products  be  generally  accepted, 


2O6 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Translations 
not  enough. 


What  we  have 
done. 


they  will  only  tend  to  vitiate  the  literary  quality  of  the  language 
in  which  they  appear.  We  must  train  natives  to  do  this.  Such 
has  been  the  rule  of  our  Church  in  its  Spanish  translations,  and 
in,  perhaps,  no  other  language  have  we  done  so  well,  while  in 
Spanish  we  lead  all  others,  both  in  the  volume  and  quality  of  our 
product.  But  translations  are  a  temporary  expedient.  A  liter- 
ature native  to  the  soil  is  demanded.  The  ferment  of  intellectual 
life  which  the  gospel  causes  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  result  in 
this.  And  there  is  no  country  which  may  not  well  hail  the  fresh 
literature  which  grows  out  of  a  wholesome  religious  awakening. 

Christianity  has,  from  the  first,  had  to  make  its  language.  The 
corrupt  and  earthy  speech  of  heathen  nations  must  be  purged  and 
re-created  to  express  heavenly  things.  New  Testament  Greek 
is  an  ever-present  object  lesson  of  how  this  is  to  be  done.  Writers 
should  respect  literary  standards  and  preserve  linguistic  charm, 
but  the  truth  is  first  of  all.  Whatever  of  antique  and  classic 
beauty  any  human  speech  may  lose  by  the  inroads  of  this  uncom- 
promising and  iconoclastic  faith  will  be  more  than  atoned  for 
when  the  seeds  of  Christian  truth  burst  into  blossom  and  that 
tongue  is  born  again.  Luther's  Bible  made  modern  German, 
and  German  made  Goethe.  The  King  James  Version  in  Eng- 
lish shares  with  Shakespeare  the  honor  of  molding  what  seems 
destined  soon  to  be  the  universal  speech. 

The  growth  of  this  native  Christian  literature,  having  the  flavor 
of  the  soil  about  it,  should  be  stimulated.  Boards  must  free  the 
hands  of  such  missionaries  as  are  fitted  for  this  work.  Mission 
colleges  must  train  apt  and  promising  men  of  the  native 
Church  for  grappling  with  this  demand.  Private  beneficence 
should  more  and  more  be  directed  to  meeting  the  necessary  ex- 
penses. 

Our  own  Board  of  Missions  is  exhibiting  a  commendable  lib- 
erality in  this  department.  A  veteran  missionary  in  China  is 
giving  his  whole  time  to  literary  labor,  and,  in  the  opinion  of 
competent  observers,  doing  the  most  fruitful  work  of  his  life. 
For  thirteen  years  our  Spanish-speaking  missions  have  had, 
through  the  generosity  of  the  Board,  the  services  of  an  official 
translator.  And  in  every  one  of  our  foreign  fields  a  Church 
organ  and  Sunday  school  periodicals  are  freely  subsidized  by  the 
Board,  while  the  work  of  translation  is  constantly  carried  on. 

It  affords  me  the  liveliest  satisfaction  to  report  here  the  gen- 


LITERARY   WORK:  A   GENERAL   SURVEY.  2O7 

erosity  of  two  other  departments  in  our  Church  toward  an  enter-  W'NTON. 
prise  not  strictly  within  their  purview.    I  hail  it  as  an  omen.    One 
of  these  is  the  Sunday  School  Board.     For  a  number  of  years  Coj,peration 
past  it  has  been  appropriating  money  to  aid  in  issuing  literature 
for  the  mission  fields.    These  appropriations  reach  now  the  con- 
siderable sum  of  $2,000  a  year. 

The  other  is  the  Publishing  House.  For  twelve  years  it  has 
carried  fonts  of  Spanish  types  and  employed  printers  familiar  with 
that  language.  During  this  time  the  Agents  have  issued  at- 
tractive editions  of  the  Spanish  Discipline,  Wesley's  "Sermons," 
Paley's  "Evidences,"  Haygood's  "Man  of  Galilee,"  McTyeire's 
"Catechism,"  Hurst's  "Church  History,"  not  to  mention  smaller 
works,  patiently  carrying  on  their  shelves  the  remnants  of  these 
unproductive  and  slow-selling  editions,  issued  not  because  there  3^3  in 
was  money  to  be  made  by  them  but  because  good  could  be  done.  Spanish. 
Perhaps  sometime  there  may  be  a  profit  on  these  books.  They 
are  gradually  making  their  way  to  Mexico,  to  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
South  America,  Spain,  and  the  Philippines ;  but  as  yet  the  de- 
mand is  limited.  Not  content  with  this  sufficiently  liberal  policy, 
our  Book  Agents  have  also  shared  equally  with  the  Board  of 
Missions,  during  all  these  years,  the  burden  of  the  translator's 
support.  The  missionaries  to  Mexico  and  Cuba  are  not  unmind- 
ful of  this  generous  service.  Its  record  is  in  heaven. 

We  may,  in  closing,  sum  up  our  hasty  survey  in  a  word :  We 
need  books — books  at  home  about  the  missionaries  and  their 
fields,  books  abroad  about  Jesus  Christ  and  his  saving  grace. 
Papers  also  must  be  printed,  tracts,  leaflets,  helps  for  the  Sunday  The  nee<J 
school,  texts,  picture  cards,  everything  that  may  serve  to  stir 
cold  hearts  at  home  or  abroad  to  lead  darkened  souls  into  the 
light.  Money  and  time  expended  in  producing  this  Christian 
literature  will  surely  be  good  seed  in  good  ground. 

The  angel  that  John  saw  flying  through  the  midst  of  heaven 
must  have  carried  a  book.  He  had  the  everlasting  gospel  in  a 
visible  form.  A  book  is  permanent.  It  is  a  loan  to  the  future. 
It  is  an  arsenal  of  war  material.  In  it  the  writer  speaks  after 
death  has  hushed  his  lips.  Through  it  may  be  poured,  during  suc- 
cessive generations,  the  saving  efficacy  of  the  Spirit  of  truth.  Its 
fruit  will  not  cease  to  be  garnered  till  the  mighty  angel,  himself 
the  bearer  of  a  book,  standing  on  sea  and  land,  declares  that 
time  shall  be  no  more. 


Advance  dur- 
ing nineteenth 
century- 


Section  V. 

WOMAN^S    WORK. 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

BISHOP    J.  M.  THOBURN,  D.D. 

THE  most  careless  observer  cannot  have  failed  to  notice  that  a 
change,  amounting;  to  a  revolution,  has  taken  place  in  the  privi- 
lege? granted  to  the  womanhood  of  the  English-speaking  nations 
since  the  middle  of  the  century  which  has  just  closed.  During 
this  period  college  and  universitv  privileges  have  been  extended 
to  men  and  women  on  equal  terms;  law  and  medicine,  especially 
the  latter,  have  been  placed  within  the  reach  of  women  choosing  a 
professional  career;  the  obscure  schoolmistress  has  become  the 
accomplished  college  professor;  public  offices  are  filled  with  capa- 
ble women,  while  in  the  industrial  world  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  courageous  women  fill  positions  to  which  no  woman  dreamed 
of  aspiring  fifty  years  ago.  The  era  has  been  one  of  change,  and 
the  change  has  been  in  the  direction  of  progress.  As  might  have 
been  expected,  this  progress  has  affected  the  Christian  woman- 
hood of  the  world  very  sensibly,  by  expanding  the  sphere  both  of 
woman's  privilege  and  opportunity.  In  the  home  field  it  has  en- 
abled our  anointed  sisters  not  only  to  assist  their  brethren  in  the 
Master's  work,  but,  in  some  cases,  to  lead  them  into  it.  In  the 
foreign  field  it  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  a  new  contingent  of 
most  valuable  workers,  and  the  extension  of  missionary  labor  to 
a  wide  sphere  from  which  it  had  before  been  rigidly  excluded. 
The  famous  temperance  crusade,  the  organization  of  the  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  Union  on  a  world-wide  basis,  the 
formation  of  numerous  missionary  societies  under  the  manage- 
ment of  women,  the  introduction  of  deaconess  work  into  the 
Church,  the  multiplication  of  hospitals  and  houses  of  refuge 
under  the  care  of  Christian  women — these  and  other  like  forms 
••n  labor  indicate  the  rapid  advance  and  wide  expansion 
v.'ork  of  our  Christian  women  during  recent  years.  If 


WOMAN  S    WORK   AT    HOME   AND    ABROAD.  209 

time  permitted,  it   would  be  a  pleasing  task  to  speak  at  length  of   Tllolii;"N- 
these  different  kinds  of  work,  but  for  the  present  I  must  confine 
my  remarks,  for  the  most  part,  to  two  topics — namely,  woman's 
work  in  the  foreign  mission  field,  and  the  deaconess  movement  in 
the  Church,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

It  seems  very  strange  that  in  the  early  years  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  the  idea  of  employing  Christian  women  in  the  work, 
except  incidentally  as  the  wives  of  missionary  husbands,  seems 
not  to  have  entered  the  minds  of  any  one,  and  that  two  genera- 
tions of  two  missionary  workers  had  passed  off  the  stage  before 
the  thought  of  enlisting  unmarried  women  for  the  work  was  se- 
riously entertained.  The  first  generation  of  this  class  of  workers 
are  still  in  the  field,  but  the  movement  which  they  represent  has 
passed  its  experimental  stage,  and  is  no  longer  challenged  by  the 
most  conservative  managers  at  home,  or  by  missionaries  abroad. 
At  the  outset  it  was  challenged,  sometimes  with  much  vigor,  at 
both  ends  of  the  line,  but  God  has  put  his  seal  upon  both  the  work- 
ers and  the  work  in  such  a  way  that  all  parties  have  become  con- 
vinced that  the  whole  movement  must  be  accepted  as  a  token  of 
his  divine  leadership. 

It  was  my  privilege  in  January,  1870,  to  make  a  long  journey 
through  Central  India  to  meet  the  first  two  lady  representatives 
of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  One  of  these,  Miss  Clara  A.  Swain,  M.D.,  of  First  lady 

/~>      .  •  i       XT    ir  1       r      >    i     1         i       •    •  •    ,  missionaries . 

Castile,  A.  Y.,  was  the  first  lady  physician  ever  sent  into  a  non- 
Christian  land  by  any  missionary  society  or  other  association  of 
any  kind.  The  other,  who  chanced  to  be  my  sister,  went  out  to 
take  up  educational  work.  Both  were  cordially  and  even  joy- 
ously received ;  but  among  the  missionaries  generally  a  measure 
of  doubt  was  entertained  as  to  their  ultimate  success,  while  among 
medical  men  in  the  service  of  the  Indian  government  the  mission 
•of  Miss  Swain  was  regarded  as  a  wild  undertaking,  bordering  on 
absolute  fanaticism.  An  amazing  number  of  lions  in  the  way 
were  seen  by  the  excited  vision  of  some  of  these  gentlemen.  It 
was  said  that  the  men  of  India  would  not  permit  Dr.  Swain  to  treat 
Their  wives  and  daughters  when  ill;  that  many  of  the  women 
themselves  would  fear  poison  and  other  unknown  evil  designs  ; 
that  no  lady  could  maintain  an  unsuspected  character  while  go- 

Could  a  -voai 

ing  about  among-  tne  people  in  the  character  ot  a  doctor  ;  and  that   an  practice 
the  failure  to  heal  might  be  represented  as  tantamount  to  a  proof   me<licilie? 
-M  deliberate  murder.     Xot  the  slightest  suggestion  of  anv  evil 


2IO 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


IHOBL'RN. 


The  teaching 
of  women  by 
a  woman. 


Foreboding* 
ill-founded. 


intent  was  attributed  to  the  lady  herself,  but  these  perils  were  sup- 
posed to  be  inevitable  as  a  result  of  the  ignorance  and  prejudices 
of  the  people. 

The  other  lady  missionary  was  permitted  to  go  on  her  way  in 
peace ;  but  when,  on  looking  over  the  ground,  she  determined  to 
establish  a  school  for  girls  of  high  grade,  in  which  the  English  lan- 
guage and  the  higher  branches  of  a  modern  education  should  be 
taught,  some  missionaries  at  once  began  to  manifest  not  only  dis- 
approval, but  even  active  hostility  toward  the  enterprise.  It  was 
affirmed  that  the  Christian  women  of  India  would  be  utterly 
spoiled  if  educated  above  their  station.  I  recall  one  good  Ger- 
man brother  who  protested  in  the  most  vigorous  terms  against  any 
attempt  to  introduce  "American  notions"  of  education  among  the 
simple-minded  converts  of  India,  and  this  feeling  was  shared  very 
largely  by  intelligent  Europeans  throughout  India  generally.  So 
strong  was  the  hostility  sometimes  manifested  toward  any  instruc- 
tion in  the  higher  branches  that  in  later  years  my  sister  once  men- 
tioned in  a  great  decennial  conference  at  Calcutta  that  she  had 
prudently  reversed  a  blackboard  when  certain  ladies  in  high  po- 
sition came  to  visit  her  school,  so  that  they  might  not  be  made 
unhappy  by  discovering  algebraic  characters  in  which  the  native 
girls  had  been  working  out  problems  in  higher  mathematics. 

I  mention  these  two  cases,  in  the  first  place,  because  they  per- 
tain to  the  two  ladies  who  became  pioneers  in  our  own  mission 
field,  and  also  because,  in  the  final  results  of  the  experiment  made 
by  them,  the  course  of  each  was  abundantly  vindicated,  and  the 
character  of  the  work  performed  by  missionary  women  in  India 
was  strikingly  illustrated.  Dr.  Swain,  for  instance,  succeeded, 
first,  in  proving  that  she  could  get  ready  access  to  women  of  all 
classes  without  the  slightest  token  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  hus- 
bands and  brothers.  In  the  next  place,  she  also  succeeded  in  re- 
moving the  fear  and  prejudices  of  the  Europeans,  who  were  watch- 
ing her  course  with  much  interest.  She  did  not  stop,  however,  at 
this  point,  but  proceeded  to  select  a  few  intelligent  Christian  wom- 
en, and  began  to  teach  them  some  elementary  principles  of  med- 
ical science.  Step  by  step  she  advanced  until  a  small  class  of  In- 
dian women  were  prepared  to  extend  medical  relief  to  the  people 
of  their  own  class,  and  in  this  way  the  idea  of  training  women  of 
India  for  medical  practitioners  was  not  only  suggested,  but  prac- 
tically demonstrated.  At  this  point,  after  other  lady  missionaries 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.  211 

had  come  to  the  field,  and  one  of  their  number  had,  in  an  audi-  TII°BURN- 
ence  with  the  late  revered  queen  of  England,  suggested  the  idea 
of  medical  relief  on  a  broad  scale  for  the  womanhood  of  India,  the 
well-known  Lady  Dufferin  movement  was  inaugurated,  and  ef- 
fectively supported  by  the  government  of  India.  In  other  words, 
a  quiet  and  unostentatious  missionary  lady  had  gone  to  India  and 
inaugurated  a  blessed  work  of  untold  possibilities,  which  has  since 
expanded,  under  God's  blessing,  into  one  of  the  greatest  benevo- 
lent movements  of  the  age. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  results  of  the  work  inaugurated  by  the 
other  pioneer  to  whom  I  have  referred.  She  began  a  little  school 
in  which  English  was  taught  in  the  city  of  Lucknow.  For  some 
weeks  only  seven  girls  attended,  but  when  the  full  meaning  of  her 
experiment  began  to  be  understood  among  the  native  Christian 
people  the  humble  little  school  at  once  became  popular,  and  it 
was  found  necessary  to  make  arrangements  for  the  reception  of 
girls  who  wished  to  come  as  boarders  from  distant  places.  From  The  educatioa 
the  very  first  the  results  of  this  experiment  proved  more  than  sat-  of  girls, 
isfactory.  Parents  living  five  hundred  and,  in  some  cases,  a  thou- 
sand miles  distant,  and  oftentimes  at  very  great  sacrifice  to  them- 
selves, would  bring  or  send  their  daughters  to  a  school  which 
promised  to  give  them  a  superior  education.  Year  after  year  the 
attendance  increased,  while  the  grade  of  scholarship  steadily  rose, 
until  before  the  close  of  the  century  the  little  school  which  began 
with  seven  pupils  had  expanded  into  the  Lucknow  Woman's  Col- 
lege, affiliated  with  a  government  university,  and  had  thus  won 
the  distinction  of  being  the  first  Christian  college  for  women  ever 
established  on  Asiatic  soil.  It  was  from  this  institution  that  Miss 
Lilavati  Singh  came,  the  young;  lady  who  recently  visited  the  Unit- 
ed States,  and  of  whom  the  late  ex-President  Harrison  said,  after 
listening  to  a  paper  read  by  her  at  the  great  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence in  New  York  last  April,  that  if  he  had  invested  a  million  dol- 
lars in  foreign  missions,  and  had  never  received  any  other  return 
for  his  money  than  the  education  of  that  young  woman,  he  would 
have  felt  amply  repaid  for  all  his  expenditure. 

I  have  here  indicated  two  linei,  along  which  two  missionary  pio- 
neers moved  in  trying  to  do  the  work  to  which  God  had  called 
them,  and  in  which  they  felt  assured  that  he  was  leading  them; 
but  these  were  only  two  of  many.  While  in  the  foreign  field  one 
may  found  a  college  and  give  young  women  opportunities  for  se- 


212 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Manifold 
forms  of  labor 
for  women. 


7be  wom-:n  of 
India  cannot 
bt  evangelized 
ti\  men. 


curing  the  highest  culture,  another  may  be  found  in  charge  of  an 
orphanage,  and  work  out  a  career  which  perhaps  in  the  coming 
ages  will  prove  to  have  been  quite  as  successful,  in  every  sense, 
as  that  of  her  sister  who  is  connected  with  a  more  pretentious  en- 
terprise. The  forms  of  labor  which  are  offered  to  Christian  wom- 
en in  the  foreign  field  are  manifold.  Medical  women  have  now 
become  a  numerous  class.  The  recent  great  famines  with  which 
the  world  has  become  so  painfully  familiar  have  placed  many 
thousands  of  bereaved  children  in  the  care  of  missionaries,  and 
here  is  another  door  open  for  the  missionary  women  of  Christian 
lands.  Then,  the  general  education  of  the  women  in  all  Oriental 
countries  must  impose  a  severe,  but  most  interesting,  task  upon 
thousands  who  go  abroad,  at  least  for  generations  to  come.  Still 
another  sphere  of  labor,  and  perhaps  in  its  ultimate  bearings  most 
important  of  all,  will  be  the  evangelistic  work  of  Christian  women 
in  the  great  empires  of  the  East. 

In  India  alone  there  are  to-day  one  hundred  and  fifty  million 
women  and  girls,  of  whom  about  twenty-four  million  are  widows. 
Owing  to  the  custom  of  early  marriage,  which  often  takes  place  in 
infancy,  the  so-called  bride  is  regarded  as  a  widow  if  at  any  time 
the  child  husband  dies,  and  as  widows  are  prohibited  from  remar- 
riage, and  are  subjected  to  grievous  disabilities,  a  great  host  of 
women  in  this  pitiful  condition  may  be  found  throughout  the  em- 
pire. For  reasons  which  time  will  not  permit  me  to  state,  the 
great  majority  of  these  millions,  whether  married  or  widows,  can 
be  reached  only  through  messengers  of  Christ  who  represent  their 
own  sex.  Thus  far  the  way  does  not  seem  to  have  been  fully 
opened  for  the  inauguration  of  an  evangelistic  work  in  which 
women  will  become  evangelists  to  women.  For  reasons  peculiar 
to  the  country,  men  can  get  access  to  women  to  a  very  limited 
extent  only,  and  under  very  unfavorable  conditions,  such  as,  for 
instance,  speaking  to  an  audience  who  are  concealed  behind  a 
curtain  or  shrinking  into  darkened  corners  of  a  room  where  a 
meeting  is  in  progress.  It  is  possible,  and  I  think  probable,  that 
foreign  missionaries,  who  naturally  carry  abroad  with  them  most  of 
the  prejudices  or  wrong  motives  received  in  the  home  land,  have 
been  slow  to  perceive  the  absolute  necessity  of  forming  a  great  sis- 
terhood of  evangelists  in  their  efforts  to  reach  the  women  of  Ori- 
ental countries.  One-half  of  the  human  race  live  in  Eastern  and 
Southern  Asia,  and  almost  one-half  of  these  uncounted  millions 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.  213 

are  so  shut  off,  owing  to  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  that  they   THOHI-KN. 
can  be  reached  freely  and  effectively  only  by  evangelists  of  their 
own  sex. 

I  hesitate  before  making  the  next  remark,  which,  nevertheless, 
I  feel  constrained  to  make  because  I  have  become  persuaded  that 
a  great  wrong  may  yet  be  done  to  great  multitudes  of  Oriental 

women  when  they  begin  to  apply  in  large  numbers  for  member-  ShaU  women 

,  •      •  m.  •  *•        r-i         u  T7       -i-       •      /-»   •      4.   1  1      j     t.  be  ordained? 

ship  in  our  Christian  Churches.    Families  in  Oriental  lands  have 

their  interests  so  interwoven  through  marriage  and  other  rela- 
tionships that  proper  action  is  often  made  practically  impossible, 
and  the  parties  concerned  may  feel  constrained  not  to  follow  a 
given  course,  even  though  they  wish  to  do  so.  It  will  thus  often 
happen  when,  for  instance,  a  woman  evangelist  carries  the  gospel 
to  women  secluded  from  the  world  that  her  word  will  find  ready 
acceptance,  and  those  to  whom  she  goes  may  joyfully  receive  the 
Christ  in  whose  name  the  evangelist  comes  to  them,  but  may,  for 
reasons  imperative  in  Oriental  countries,  be  unable  to  go  to  any 
place  of  worship,  to  receive  baptism,  or  to  admit  any  men  not  re- 
lated to  the  family  to  the  seclusion  of  the  women's  quarters.  In 
plainer  words,  circumstances  may  arise,  and  actually  do  arise,  in 
which  it  seems  consistent  with  common  sense  and  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament  to  permit  the  same  person 
who  carries  the  gospel  to  these  secluded  creatures  to  have  the  lib- 
erty of  administering  the  sacraments  of  the  Church  to  those  who 
receive  the  word  at  her  mouth.  To  my  mind,  this  seems  perfectly 
simple,  plain,  reasonable,  and  scriptural,  and  yet  I  know  but  too 
well  that  to  the  mind  of  others,  perhaps  many  others,  the  bare 
suggestion  of  such  a  thing  may  be  more  than  startling;  neverthe- 
less, as  I  expect  our  world  to  become  a  Christian  world,  and  as  I 
"eniember  that  our  blessed  Master  would  have  mercy  rather  than 
sacrifice,  1  believe  that  the  time  is  coming,  and  is  very  near  at 
hand,  when  we  in  Christian  lands  will  have  to  lay  aside  our 
prejudices  and  our  timidity,  and  concede  to  the  pioneers  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  great  Oriental  world  privileges  which  may  not  be  in 
place  here,  but  which  are  perfectly  reasonable  and  normal  in 
other  lands.  If  India  and  China  are  ever  to  become  Christian 
empires,  a  time  must  come,  at  least  for  a  generation  or  two, 
when  the  Xew  Testament  custom  of  having  a  Church  in  a  house 
—that  is,  composed  of  the  inmates  of  one  large  Oriental  house- 
hold— shall  be  permitted  and  become  a  verv  familiar  institution. 


214 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Future  of 
woman's 
work. 


The  organization  in  recent  years  of  missionary  societies  under  the 
administration  of  women  has  been  one  of  the  most  significant 
signs  of  the  missionary  times. 

While  very  little  direct  opposition  to  these  societies  has  been 
avowed  at  any  time,  yet  the  movement  has  become  so  general, 
and  those  engaged  in  it  so  earnest  and  determined,  that  some  have 
been  constrained  to  ask  whereunto  these  new  societies  may  be  ex- 
pected to  grow.  It  is  too  soon  to  attempt  to  give  a  complete  an- 
swer to  a  question  of  this  kind;  but,  after  watching  the  general  in- 
fluence of  these  societies  upon  the  thought  and  action  of  the  mis- 
sionary world,  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that  God  is  distinctly  lead- 
ing in  this  movement,  and  that  the  near  future  is  destined  to  wit- 
ness the  most  amazing  progress  which  has  ever  been  witnessed  in 
the  great  missionary  fields  of  the  world.  If  such  a  movement 
were  to  begin  to-morrow,  the  men  at  the  front  would  be  wholly 
unprepared  for  the  crisis  which  would  confront  them.  Without 
the  evangelization  and  enlightenment  of  the  women,  the  nations, 
as  nations,  cannot  be  christianized,  and  hence  God  seems  to  be 
preparing  the  agencies  which  will  be  needed  when  the  great  day 
of  salvation  arrives.  If  these  societies  were  not  of  God,  surely 
this  blessing  would  not  so  manifestly  be  vouchsafed  to  the  socie- 
ties and  the  work  supported  by  them  in  foreign  lands. 

It  may  seem  like  a  very  abrupt  transition  to  turn  from  these 
thoughts  to  speak  of  deaconess  work  in  the  home  land,  but 
to  my  mind  the  change  of  subject  seems  perfectly  natural.  It  was 
The  deaconess,  in  the  foreign  field  that  the  idea  of  associating  a  few  Christian 
women  together  as  workers  in  the  Master's  vineyard  first  suggest- 
ed itself  to  my  mind,  and  I  have  ever  since  looked  forward  to  the 
time  when  the  value  of  this  form  of  woman's  labor  shall  be  as 
highly  appreciated  in  the  great  mission  fields  of  the  world  as 
among  the.  most  advanced  nations  of  Christendom. 

When  asked  to  define  in  as  few  words  as  possible  the  phrase 
"deaconess  work,"  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  give  a  reply  in  a  few 
words  which  will  be  clearly  understood.  The  deaconess  has  long 
been  a  historical  character  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  does  not 
by  any  means  belong  exclusively  to  Christian  lands  or  to  the  pres- 
ent generation.  From  the  time  of  Phoebe  of  Cenchrea  down 
through  several  centuries  of  early  Christian  history  the  deaconess 
was  a  prominent  character,  and  filled  an  office  which  was  highly 
prized  in  the  early  Church  as  late  as  the  time  of  Chrysostom.  The 


WOMAN  S   WORK   AT    HOME   AND    ABROAD.  215 

deaconesses  of  the  Eastern  Church  were  recognized  as  women  of  THOBLRN- 
great  usefulness,  who  maintained  an  unchallenged  character  in 
the  midst  of  a  corrupt  and  rapidly  degenerating  society.  The  ex- 
act position  filled  by  these  excellent  sisters  in  those  remote  days 
cannot  now  be  clearly  ascertained,  but  it  is  evident  that  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word  the  successors  of  Phoebe  were  servants  of  the 
Church,  ministers  to  those  who  needed  the  services  of  consecra- 
ted womanhood,  and  in  doing  so  supplied  a  want  which  sooner  or 
later  must  be  experienced  in  every  Christian  community. 

If  we  are  asked  how  it  came  to  pass  that  during  so  many  long 
years  after  the  time  of  Luther  the  deaconess  failed  to  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance in  any  Protestant  community,  the  answer  is  very  easy. 
The  shameful  abuses  of  the  convent  system  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  during  those  years  of  dense  spiritual  darkness  caused 
a  reaction  in  the  minds  of  the  early  Protestants,  and  generation 
after  generation  the  impression  continued  to  prevail  alike  in  Ger-  Reaction  fr«n 
many,  England,  and  America  that  the  work  and  character  of  all 
Roman  Catholic  sisterhoods  was  alike  bad.  Indeed,  when  it  was 
proposed  at  the  General  Conference  of  our  own  Church,  in  1888, 
to  authorize  the  formal  organization  of  this  class  of  workers  in  our 
Church,  a  cry  was  raised  by  a  few  doubtful  delegates  that  the  whole 
movement  might  terminate  in  the  creation  of  an  order  of  "Metho- 
dist nuns."  Happily,  Protestants  generally  are  learning  to  take 
broader  and  more  charitable  views  of  such  subjects  than  those 
which  have  prevailed  even  in  comparatively  recent  years. 

So  much  has  been  said  in  recent  years  about  "woman's  sphere," 
sometimes  wisely  and  sometimes  foolishly,  that  the  mere  mention 
of  the  phrase  may  be  received  with  impatience ;  but  we  must  all 
concede  that  while  in  many  things  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
womanhood  are  not  different  from  those  of  the  other  sex,  yet  in 
some  particulars  a  distinction  must  be  drawn  if  we  wish  to  ascer- 
tain, in  the  first  place,  what  are  the  just  rights  of  Christian  women, 
and,  in  the  second  place,  what  is  the  full  extent  of  their  privileges. 
Certain  differences  undoubtedly  do  present  themselves  to  the  un- 
prejudiced mind  of  many  Christians.  It  is  well  understood,  for 
instance,  that  there  are  many  forms  of  Christian  labor  in  which 
women  almost  invariably  excel.  It  may  not  always  be  easy  to 
define  the  sphere  of  action  in  which  they  excel,  but  the  fact  can 
hardly  be  doubted.  They  can  reach  certain  classes  who  are  not 
accessible  to  others:  they  can  disarm  hostility  where  the  presence 


2l6  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

of  a  man  would  be  irritating,  and  their  very  weakness  becomes  a 
source  of  marvelous  strength.  Then,  in  the  next  place,  every  one 
has  observed  that  a  comparatively  large  number  of  our  best  wom- 
en pass  through  life  without  assuming  the  cares  and  responsibili- 
ties of  family  life,  and  any  careful  student  of  modern  society  must 
soon  become  convinced  that  this  state  of  things  will  continue  for 
perhaps  many  generations  to  come.  Christian  womanhood  is 
largely  represented  among  this  class,  and  to  a  candid  observer  it 
must  at  times  appear  as  if  God  in  his  providence  had  reserved 
many  of  these  women  for  special  ministrations,  perhaps  as  ten- 
der, and  at  the  same  time  even  more  sacred  than  those  assumed 
by  a  mother  or  a  wife. 

Putting  these  two  facts  side  by  side  (first,  that  Christian  women 
are  endowed  with  peculiar  gifts  for  certain  kinds  of  work;  and,  in 
the  next  place,  that  a  large  contingent  of  such  women  are,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  left  without  any  special  calling  in  life),  the 
thought  naturally  occurs  that  out  of  this  potential  reserve  force 
a  great  organization  of  Christian  workers  might  be,  and  ought  to 
be,  enlisted,  trained,  and  employed  in  such  parts  of  the  Master's 
vineyard  as  require  their  help.  The  kinds  of  labor  in  which  such 
women  could  render  such  services  are  manifold.  The  poor,  who 
constitute  an  immense  majority  of  the  human  race,  the  weak,  the 
fallen  and  the  falling,  the  childhood  of  the  world,  the  widow  and 
the  orphan,  the  prisoner  and  the  outcast — these,  and  multitudes  of 
others,  who  might  be  classed  under  the  general  head  of  the  needy, 
are  constantly  within  our  reach,  and  seem  to  be  waiting  for  the 
ministration  of  just  such  a  class  of  workers  as  can  be  raised  up 
from  these  women  who  are  now  comparatively  unemployed.  Nor 
does  the  demand  for  such  an  agency  stop  here.  Tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Christian  pastors  could  be  greatly  strengthened  in  their 
work  by  the  assistance  which  women  of  this  class  would  be  able  to 
render.  The  possibilities  of  women  evangelists  have  yet  to  be 
tested  in  the  home  land  as  well  as  in  foreign  missions.  If  we  could 
only  disabuse  our  minds  of  wrong  notions  concerning  what  we 
have  come  to  regard  as  perfunctory  evangelism,  and  give  a 
broader  and  much  simpler  meaning  to  the  term,  it  might  be 
found  that  thousands  upon  thousands  of  anointed  women  could 
be  employed  successfully  in  taking  Christ  into  darkened  homes 
and  neglected  communities,  where  his  hallowed  name  is  never 
heard  except  in  profane  connections. 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.  217 

It  is  very  important  that  at  this  early  stage  of  the  deaconess  THOWKN 
movement  we  do  not  place  narrow  limitations  upon  the  service  of 
these  new  workers.  From  the  first  I  have  cherished  a  conviction, 
which  has  been  confirmed  by  experience,  that  a  deaconess  should  Kind  of 
be  regarded  as  a  Christian  woman  called  of  God  to  an  exclusive  service, 
service  in  her  Master's  name,  and  both  ready  and  willing  to  en- 
gage in  any  form  of  Christian  labor  in  which  she  can  glorify  God 
and  introduce  Christ  among  the  people.  Hence  a  lady  physician 
might  make  an  excellent  deaconess.  Many  are  already  doing 
good  work  in  the  character  of  teachers,  even  though  the  teaching 
may  be  in  a  school  which  is  not  distinctively  religious.  I  have 
known  one  to  be  usefully  employed  in  editorial  work ;  and  when, 
for  instance,  we  get  ready  in  the  great  Asiatic  mission  fields  to  cre- 
ate a  literature  for  our  converts  in  twenty-five  different  languages, 
we  shall  need  a  great  working  force  of  literary  men  and  women 
for  this  stupendous  task.  In  short,  to  quote  from  the  action  of 
our  General  Conference  in  1888,  the  members  of  this  sisterhood 
should  be  not  only  ready  for  employment  in  certain  specified  forms 
of  labor,  but  also  "to  devote  themselves,  in  a  general  way,  to  such 
forms  of  Christian  labor  as  may  be  suited  to  their  abilities." 

One  vital  point  in  this  new  service  should  never  be  overlooked. 
I  refer  to  the  call  of  the  deaconess  to  her  work.  As  Methodism 
from  the  first  has  laid  more  stress  upon  the  absolute  necessity  of  a 
preacher  being  called  of  God  to  his  work,  so  the  deaconess  should 
regard  as  a  solemn  vocation  the  service  upon  which  she  enters.  The  ^n 
It  is  not,  in  any  sense,  an  employment.  If  she  serves  the  Church, 
or  serves  any  class  of  the  community,  she  does  so  under  a  convic- 
tion that  she  has  received  a  divine  call  to  employ  herself  in  this 
particular  sphere  of  action.  As  with  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit, 
so  with  the  deaconess  among  the  people.  Nothing  but  a  supreme 
assurance  that  God  has  called  a  man  to  preach  Christ  to  the  peo- 
ple will  enable  a  preacher  to  do  his  best  work,  and  in  like  manner 
nothing-  but  a  supreme  conviction  of  the  same  kind  will  sustain 
the  more  timid  deaconess  through  the  many  trials  and  petty  tasks 
which  will  confront  her  in  the  course  of  an  active  life. 

If  it  be  said,  as  it  often  is  said,  that  women  of  this  class  might 
easily  be  employed  as  many  are  at  the  present  time,  without  at- 
tempting a  formal  organization  or  giving  them  a  peculiar  status 
in  the  Church  or  in  the  community,  it  is  sufficient  to  reply  that  or- 
ganization is  always  an  clement  of  power  in  Christian  work,  as  in 


218 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


all  other  departments  of  'human  activity.  Ten  trained  soldiers 
will  render  better  service  on  a  battlefield  than  one  hundred  raw 
recruits  who  know  nothing  whatever  of  military  drill.  Why 
should  not  our  gifted  sisters  enjoy  the  advantage  of  organization 
as  well  as  their  brethren  who  speak  from  their  pulpits,  and  why 
should  they  not  be  trained  as  carefully  and  conscientiously  as  the 
men  who  are  to  preach  or  teach?  We  have  to  remember,  too, 
that  there  is  something  about  organization  which  seems  to  draw 
others  into  a  movement  of  almost  any  kind.  The  young  man 
who  will  refuse  to  enlist  in  military  service  when  sitting  alone  in 
his  room  will  be  attracted  at  once  when  he  stands  at  a  street  cor- 
ner and  sees  a  few  drilled  soldiers  march  by.  The  organization  of 
a  band  of  deaconess  workers  powerfully  attracts  others,  and  sug- 
gests to  those  who  have  a  right  spirit  that  they  could  serve  the 
Master  to  better  purpose  if  working  according  to  an  approved 
system  and  under  wise  direction.  One  condition  which  has  usu- 
ally been  attached  to  deaconess  work  in  recent  years  has  caused 
no  little  criticism  in  some  circles,  and  needs  to  be  thoroughly  un- 
derstood. It  is  assumed  at  the  outset  that  the  young  woman  who 
gives  herself  to  this  kind  of  service  does  so  for  life,  and  that  she 
does  so  with  the  distinct  understanding  that  in  the  popular  sense 
of  the  word  she  is  to  receive  no  compensation  for  her  service.  I 
use  the  word  "compensation"  in  its  strict  sense,  as  something 
given  by  way  of  payment  to  the  worker.  For  various  reasons  the 
policy  for  the  most  part  has  been  adopted  of  making  this  rule  ab- 
solute. No  salary  is  named,  but  the  deaconess  is  assured  that  if 
she  gives  herself,  her  time,  and  her  labor  to  the  Church  she  will 
be  cared  for  not  only  while  engaged  in  active  service  but  in  old 
age  as  well.  This  latter  condition  has  not  yet  been  formally  stat- 
ed, so  far  as  I  know,  by  any  of  our  modern  Churches,  but  it  is  ob- 
served to  a  slight  extent,  and  as  the  work  develops  it  must  be 
definitely  stated.  In  the  limited  space  allowed  me  in  this  paper 
it  will  be  impossible  to  discuss  this  feature  of  the  subject  at  length, 
but  suffice  it  to  say  that  a  very  limited  experience  in  very  many 
cases  has  developed  the  fact  that  where  a  fair  salary  is  offered  by 
way  of  compensation  a  class  of  fairly  good  women  will  come  for- 
ward for  service ;  but  these  do  not  possess  the  conviction  which  a 
divine  call  from  the  Holy  Spirit  implies,  and  will  not  be  found 
ready  to  assume  whatever  duties  come  to  hand  with  the  same 
alacrity,  and  with  the  same  spiritual  power,  which  will  be  mani- 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.  219 

fested  by  those  whose  conviction  has  been  deliberately  made,  and  ™OBURN. 
who  have  made  up  their  minds  to  give  up  their  lives  to  the  calling, 
not  because  it  assures  them  an  income  but  because  it  sets  them 
free  to  live  and  work  for  Jesus  only.  At  the  outset  it  may  not  be 
easy,  nor  is  it  indeed  necessary,  to  make  formal  provision  of  homes 
for  the  invalided  or  superannuated  deaconesses,  but  as  time  passes 
no  doubt  provision  of  this  kind  can  be  readily  made.  Indeed,  one 
of  the  most  striking  results  of  deaconess  work  thus  far  has  been  a 
tendency  manifested  by  the  movement  to  create  forms  of  help  for 
the  helpless,  and  places  of  shelter  for  the  homeless,  and  that  which 
this  movement  has  done  for  others  it  may  certainly  be  trusted  to 
accomplish  for  its  own  sisterhood.  Perhaps  the  most  surprising 
feature  of  the  success  achieved  through  the  deaconess  movement 
in  our  Church  has  been  its  natural  tendency  to  develop  eleemosy- 
nary institutions  of  various  kinds.  For  instance,  in  1888,  when 
our  first  deaconess  home  was  established,  our  people  could  boast 
of  only  one  hospital  throughout  the  entire  Church,  and  probably 
it  would  have  seemed  wildly  improbable  had  it  been  suggested 
that  the  organization  of  a  few  bands  of  Christian  women,  who  had 
expressly  agreed  to  dispense  with  fixed  salaries,  and  to  lead  simple 
lives  of  Christian  usefulness,  should  eventuate  in  the  creation  of  Develo  ment 
hospitals,  orphanages,  old  people's  homes,  and  other  institutions  of  hospitals, 
of  like  character.  The  progress  made  in  this  direction  during  re- 
cent years  has  been  simply  amazing.  Both  east  and  west  one 
hospital  has  followed  another,  and  some  of  these  have  been  made 
the  recipients  of  large  sums  of  money.  We  now  sometimes  hear 
people  speaking  of  the  "hospital  movement  in  the  Church."  The 
orphanage  follows  close  behind.  With  the  exception  of  the  good 
work  done  by  our  German  brethren,  who  are  few  in  number,  and 
our  missionaries  in  foreign  lands,  we  had  twelve  years  ago  only 
one  orphanage  in  the  entire  Church,  and  this  was  limited  to  a 
mere  handful  of  children.  Old  people's  homes  had  hardly  been 
spoken  of.  Now  all  these  institutions  are  springing  into  exist- 
ence, and  it  is  certain  that  the  appearance  of  these  benevolent  in- 
stitutions in  close  connection  with  deaconess  work  is  a  most  ex- 
traordinary coincidence,  if  it  is  not  an  illustration  of  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect. 

The  success  achieved  by  the  deaconess  movement  in  the  Church 
which  I  represent  has  been  in  many  ways  remarkable.  It  is  not 
yet  quite  thirteen  years  since  the  movement  was  recognized  by 


220 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


the  General  Conference,  but  already  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  sixty  ladies  have  become  enrolled  as  stated  deaconess  work- 
ers, while  no  less  than  $1,600,000  has  been  invested  in  real  estate 
connected  with  the  work.  Meanwhile  more  workers  are  called 
for  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  A  lady  superintendent  told  me  very 
recently  that  no  less  than  ten  applications  for  workers  from  as 
many  different  towns  were  then  pending  in  her  hands.  I  regard  it 
as  very  important  that  a  work  of  this  kind  should  be  freely  author- 
ized by  the  Church,  and  within  moderate  limits  directed  by  Church 
authorities.  It  is  worth  more  than  can  be  expressed  in  figures  to 
have  a  movement  of  this  kind  commended  to  the  confidence  of  the 
Christian  public,  and  this  cannot  be  accomplished  in  any  way  so 
effectively  as  by  making  it  a  department  of  Church  work,  and 
subject  to  inspection  and  direction  by  the  same  officials  who  direct 
other  kinds  of  Church  work.  I  shall  always  feel  thankful  that  it 
chanced  to  fall  to  my  lot  to  present  this  enterprise  to  the  General 
Conference  of  our  Church,  but  in  doing  so  I  felt  that  the  situation 
was  extremely  critical.  Some  friends  of  the  movement  had  great 
misgivings  lest  the  officials  whose  authority  would  thus  be  in- 
voked might  be  wanting  in  sympathy  and  unprepared  for  a  prac- 
tical direction  of  the  work.  It  was  found,  however,  when  the  sub- 
ject was  fairly  brought  forward,  that  God  had  prepared  the  minds 
of  the  delegates  in  the  General  Conference  in  a  remarkable  way 
to  view  the  project  with  favor,  and  it  was  greeted  also  by  the 
Church  at  large  in  a  manner  which  forever  put  to  flight  misgiv- 
ings concerning  its  status  as  a  department  of  Church  labor. 

In  our  great  mission  fields  of  Southern  Asia,  including  India 
and  Malaysia,  we  were  allowed  a  greater  liberty  of  action,  in 
some  respects,  than  is  given  in  the  home  land  ;  hence  from  the  first 
we  have  adopted  the  policy  of  having  all  the  deaconesses  appoint- 
ed by  the  bishop  in  charge  of  a  given  Conference.  The  deaconess 
is  regarded  as  occupying  a  definite  position  as  a  Church  worker, 
and  is  amenable  to  the  appointing  power  of  the  Church  precise- 
ly as  a  deacon  would  be.  Transfers  are  made  from  one  Confer- 
ence to  another  precisely  as  is  done  in  the  case  of  preachers,  and 
no  one  has  thus  far  challenged  this  policy;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
the  deaconesses  themselves  regard  it  as  a  valuable  privilege  which 
they  would  be  extremely  sorry  to  give  up.  I  am  inclined  some- 
what strongly  to  the  opinion  that  in  all  Methodist  organizations 
it  will  ultimately  be  found  best  to  give  deaconess  workers  an 


WOMAN  S    WORK    AT    HOME    AND    ABROAD.  221 


TIIOiiL'K.N. 


assured  position,  with  clearly  defined  rights  and  privileges.  They 
should  be  solemnly  consecrated  after  due  trial,  and  should  receive 
a  certificate  of  consecration  which  will  be  recognized  all  over  the 
Methodist  world,  so  that  wherever  they  go  they  will  feel  as- 
sured of  recognition  in  their  department  of  Church  work. 

At  the  outset  many  misgivings  were  expressed  concerning  the 
support  of  these  workers.  The  Church  had  no  fund  on  which 
they  could  draw,  and  so  far  were  those  who  initiated  the  work 
from  asking  for  assured  financial  support  that  they  expressly  re- 
quested that  this  obligation  should  be  left  wholly  to  local  agen- 
cies. After  some  trial,  however,  it  was  found  necessary  in  the  Snpport 
foreign  field  to  support  such  workers  from  the  ordinary  grant 
made  by  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Church. 
In  the  United  States,  while  the  Woman's  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety has  assumed  the  support,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  these  workers,  the  majority — and  I  think  a  very 
large  majority — depend  altogether  upon  local  resources.  If  a  sis- 
ter is  employed  in  connection  with  a  Church  as  a  pastor's  assist- 
ant, she  naturally  looks  to  the  Church  for  her  support ;  but  if  she 
engages  in  other  forms  of  work,  she  must  depend  upon  such  provi- 
dential aid  as  God  may  send  her.  Thus  far  very  little  trouble  has 
been  experienced  in  this  direction.  It  is  thought  by  many  who 
have  been  close  observers  of  the  movement,  or  who  have  been  per- 
sonally connected  with  it,  that  it  is  alike  better  for  the  workers  and 
also  for  the  Churches  that  their  support  should  be  thrown  upon 
the  Christian  people  with  whom  they  are  most  closely  associated. 
As  said  before,  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  put  upon  the  fact 
that  anything  like  an  ordinary  salary  such  as  a  lady  teacher  would 
receive  would  soon  reduce  the  whole  movement  to  a  somewhat 
mechanical  arrangement  quite  inconsistent  with  the  earnest  spirit 
which  should  be  cherished  by  such  workers. 

Our  Saviour  chicled  the  people  of  his  day  for  their  want  of 
ability  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  1  often  think  that 
Christians  of  our  era  lay  themselves  open  to  a  similar  reproof. 
We  live  in  extraordinary  times,  but  great  multitudes  seem  not  to 
appreciate  the  fact.  Very  many  Christians  seem  to  be  utterlv 

,  .  .  .  '      The  outlook. 

unaware  that  the  present  is  a  time  ot  tremendous  religious  ac- 
tivity. Many  have  become  accustomed  to  the  cry  that  revivals 
have  lost  their  power,  and  take  it  for  granted  that  a  spirit  of  leth- 
argy pervades  the  Church.  It  is  quite  otherwise.  It  is  my  clelib- 


222  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

erate  conviction  that  there  has  not  for  many  years  been  a  time 
when  so  many  far-seeing  members  of  our  Methodist  Israel  on  both 
sides  of  the  globe  were  scanning  the  horizon  hopefully  as  at  the 
present  hour.  New  movements  are  coming  into  view,  and  new 
opportunities  are  opening  before  us.  Let  us  welcome  every 
movement  which  appears  in  the  Master's  name,  and  give  a  double 
welcome  to  everything  upon  which  the  Master  has  put  his  seal. 
The  deaconess  sisterhood  in  spirit  dates  back  to  the  days  of  his 
earthly  ministry,  and  follows  as  closely  in  his  footsteps  to-day  as 
any  who  bear  the  Christian  name  or  strive  to  do  the  Master's 
work.  May  God  bless  these  excellent  sisters,  and  speedily  in- 
crease their  number  a  thousandfold  ! 


WOMAN'S   WORK   IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

MRS.    S.    C.    TRUEHEART. 

THE  woman's  missionary  movement  is  one  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant, as  well  as  the  most  potential,  agencies  in  the  progress 
of  the  world  toward  Christ.  It  is  significant  because  it  marks 
woman's  emancipation  from  her  own  ignorant  conceptions  of  her- 
self, and  her  high  place  in  the  mighty  forces  of  evangelization. 
It  is  potential  since  she  brings  with  herself  her  possibilities  and 
endowments  for  uplifting  the  race  of  man,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
in  her  arms  she  brings  the  children,  whose  training  and  special 
development,  physically,  intellectually,  and  spiritually,  rests  large- 
ly with  her.  How  marvelous  that  woman  was  so  slow  to  recog- 
nize her  own  worth !  How  many  centuries  passed,  leaving  her 
unacquainted  with  God's  grandest  purposes !  Like  the  muck 
rake  man  in  Bunyan's  dream,  she  spent  her  time  in  raking  to- 
gether the  straw  and  dirt  and  dust,  never  looking  up  to  see  the 
glittering  crown  the  angel  held  so  near,  ready  to  place  upon  her 
in  celestial  beauty  as  soon  as  she  raised  her  head.  She  has,  in  a 
The  slow  measure,  ceased  to  rake  together  the  "little  straw  and  dirt  and 

dust ;"  and,  with  enlarged  vision,  not  only  looks  up  but  looks 
beyond.  God  has  touched  her  with  power.  The  whole  world  is 
now  embraced  in  the  faith  that  honors  God — in  the  faith  that, 


TRL'EIIBAKT. 


WOMAN  S    WORK   IN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  223 

having  heard,  believes  God  no  "respecter  of  persons."  This  MRS- 
thought  of  God  inspires  her  soul  and  nerves  her  hand  to  work 
for  the  salvation  of  the  race.  She  begins  to  see  no  distinctions, 
but  labors  for  the  African,  the  Mongolian,  the  wild  tribes  of  Amer- 
ica, as  well  as  the  Caucasians  of  the  table-lands  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  their  descendants,  who  now  cover  Europe  and  America.  This 
wonderful  thought  of  God,  so  clearly  seen  in  revelation,  was  ig- 
nored for  centuries.  Woman's  part  in  the  command  to  disciple 
the  nations  was  not  understood  clearly  until  the  dawn  of  the  last 
century.  True,  Susannah  Wesley  deserves  admiration  for  her 
approval  of  her  son  John's  first  missionary  venture,  when  he 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  preach  to  the  American  Indians ;  and  the 
mother  of  Samuel  J.  Mills  early  set  him  apart  for  the  work  of 
foreign  missions ;  but  these  were  isolated  cases  in  the  midst  of 
the  general  dearth  of  missionary  zeal  among  the  women  of  the 
Church. 

The  year  1825  witnessed,  perhaps,  the  earliest  organized  move- 
ment for  foreign  missions  by  women,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
promote  education  among  the  people  of  the  West  Indies.  This 
was  not  followed  by  very  noteworthy  results,  though  the  influ-  Beginnings, 
ence  was  not  lost.  Slowly  the  heart  of  woman  was  touched,  her 
intellectual  life  broadened  and  deepened,  until  her  conscience  was 
aroused  on  the  subject  of  missions.  When  the  true  condition  of 
the  women  of  the  East  was  realized  fully,  their  seclusion,  their 
degradation,  their  helplessness,  she  was  eager  to  rescue  and  set 
them  at  liberty.  She  found  that  only  the  hand  of  woman  could 
open  the  doors  of  the  zenanas,  and  she  must  herself  go  or  send. 
To  open  their  prison  doors  and  let  in  the  light  of  the  gospel  was, 
at  first,  her  sole  aim ;  later  came  the  thought  that  these  heathen 
must  have  all  the  privileges  of  the  gospel,  their  children  be  pro- 
vided with  Christian  schools,  and  the  mothers  with  Christian 
homes.  To  be  better  able  to  educate  others,  she  must  have  the 
best  equipment  herself;  to  provide  Christian  homes,  she  must 
make  her  own  home  among  those  she  would  elevate  ;  she  must 
learn  difficult  foreign  tongues  and  master  the  various  dialects, 
that  she  may  enter  their  hearts  as  well  as  their  homes.  To  alle- 
viate bodily  suffering  as  well  as  sorrow  of  the  soul,  she  must 
enter  the  dispensaries  and  hospitals,  the  medical  and  surgical  col- 
leges, and  there  prepare  herself.  A  call  from  God  to  go  to  work 
in  his  vineyard  meant  to  go  to  work  skillfully — go  with  the  high- 


224 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS. 
TKVEHEAKT. 


Knowledge  of 
the  Bible. 


Orgaai2alion. 


est  equipment,  go  with  cultured  brain  and  deft  ringers,  anointed 
from  on  high. 

The  women  who  send  as  well  as  the  women  who  go  should  be 
able  to  handle  well  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  Word  of  God. 
The  power  that  applies  the  truth  must  be  hers  also.  How  won- 
derful is  this  Word,  working  salvation  in  the  midst  of  the  earth ! 
Every  page  of  the  holy  text  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  is  il- 
luminated by  divine  love.  Listen  to  the  proclamation :  "Glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men  ;" 
"I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldest 
be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  The  glory  and 
crown  of  Christian  giving  is  giving  the  divine  Word.  Wom- 
an's joy  is  more  complete  in  such  giving,  because  of  the  full 
measure  which  flows  back  upon  herself,  her  home,  her  country. 

The  subject  of  foreign  missions  having  touched  the  heart  of 
Christian  women  and  awakened  their  consciences,  they  discussed 
it  in  social  circles,  at  their  own  firesides,  talked  with  God  of  it 
at  the  family  altar  and  in  private  devotions,  until  it  found  ex- 
pression in  organized  form,  and  the  woman's  foreign  mission- 
ary society  became  a  valuable  factor  in  all  evangelical  denom- 
inations. The  quickened  life  of  the  Church  was  the  first  visi- 
ble result  of  the  movement,  and  objections  and  objectors  disap- 
peared, unable  to  stand  before  the  wonderful  impetus  it  gave  to 
every  other  enterprise  of  the  Church.  Miss  Frances  Willard, 
of  blessed  memory,  said  on  one  occasion :  "The  woman's  foreign 
missionary  movement  opened  the  way  for  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union.  Women  there  learned  to  use  their 
powers  of  mind  and  heart  for  God,  and  were  soon  ready  for  every 
other  measure  that  would  elevate  the  race." 

It  was  not  until  May,  18/8,  that  the  women  of  our  own  beloved 
Church  sought  organization.  Previous  to  memorializing  the 
General  Conference  for  a  Constitution,  which  was  granted  in 
May,  18/8,  consecrated,  intelligent  women,  such  as  Mrs.  Lavinia 
Kelley,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  Mrs.  Davidson,  of  Baltimore. 
had  been  working  as  well  as  praying  for  the  cause  of  foreign  mis- 
sions. In  their  ministrations  they  powerfully  impressed  the 
hearts  of  two  noble  women — Mrs.  Juliana  Hayes,  of  Baltimore, 
the  first  President  of  the  organization,  and  Mrs.  D.  H.  McGavock. 
of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  the  first  General  Secretary.  These  two  gifted 
women  brought  the  enterprise  at  once  to  the  front,  and  con1.- 


TKUEHEART. 


WOMAN  S    WORK  IN   FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  225 

mended  it  to  the  intelligence  and  support  of  the  Church.  Mrs. 
Hayes  traveled  throughout  our  borders,  urging  the  formation  of 
auxiliaries,  stressing  the  need  of  immediate  action,  and  bringing 
about  happy  results.  She  spared  not  time  nor  strength,  nor  con- 
sidered her  three  score  years.  The  angel  of  His  presence  was 
with  her,  and  touched  her  lips  with  a  live  coal  from  off  the  altar. 
To  the  closing  months  of  her  life,  in  1895,  she  never  ceased  her 
efforts.  In  the  quiet  of  her  sick  chamber,  with  pen  in  hand,  Mrs. 
D.  H.  McGavock  planned  and  thought,  bringing  into  play  all  First  officers. 
the  materials  at  hand,  and  without  the  "stroke  of  a  hammer"  or 
"the  sound  of  the  anvil"  the  organization  was  perfected,  and  met 
in  Louisville,  Ky.,  May,  1879,  m  its  ^rst  annual  session,  full  of 
vigorous  life.  Cautious,  conservative,  watching  and  caring  for 
every  department  of  the  Society,  holding  in  check  lavish  expend- 
itures, she  guided  the  affairs  of  the  young  and  growing  treas- 
ury, and  safely  piloted  it  over  the  pitfalls  and  rocks  that  threaten 
every  new  enterprise.  To  her,  fashioned  for  her  work  by  her  be- 
loved friend,  Mrs.  Lavinia  Kelley,  we  owe  in  large  measure  the 
healthy  financial  policy  that  has  marked  our  career.  Across  the 
seas,  standing  by  her  husband's  side,  was  Mrs.  J.  W.  Lambuth, 
an  inspiration  to  both  our  leaders ;  and  as  China  was  upon  her 
heart,  it  is  not  marvelous  China  should  have  been  the  first  object 
of  our  foreign  missionary  undertaking. 

The  second  article  of  our  Constitution  reads  as  follows :  ''The 
objects  of  this  society  shall  be  to  enlist  and  to  unite  the  efforts 
of  women  and  children  in  sending  the  gospel  to  women  and 
children  in  foreign  lands,  on  our  border,  and  among  the  Indian 
tribes  of  our  own  country,  through  the  agency  of  female  mission- 
aries, teachers,  phvsicians,  and  Bible  readers.  The  missionaries, 
teachers,  physicians,  and  Bible  readers  employed  by  the  Woman's 
Board  shall  be  subject  to  the  appointing  power  of  the  bishop 
having  charge  of  the  mission  field  in  which  they  labor." 

These  objects  have  been  kept  in  view,  and  encouraging  results 
have  followed.  Very  early  in  its  operations  plans  were  agreed 
upon  for  training  the  children  to  love  and  work  and  pray  for  for- 
eign missions.  Consecrated,  qualified  managers  were  appointed 
to  organize  these  children  into  bands  and  societies  for  systematic 
work.  The  good  results  have  been  felt  in  every  department  of 
the  Church  ;  and  the  small  fee,  a  condition  of  membership,  sup- 
plemented astonishingly  the  funds  necessary  to  equip  and  sustain 

12 


226 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS. 
TRVEHEART. 


Value  of  or- 
ganization. 


Incidental  re- 
sults. 


our  missions.  Sunday  school  life  felt  its  impulse,  and  more  help- 
ful and  efficient  measures  were  adopted  by  which  it  could  become 
a  powerful  arm  of  service.  The  Epworth  League  sprang  into 
life,  and  the  child,  previously  little  noticed  as  a  factor  in  religious 
progress,  became  most  interesting  and  profitable.  "A  little  child 
was  set  in  the  midst"  as  did  Jesus,  and  "A  little  child  shall  lead 
them"  has  been  demonstrated. 

Organization  was  looked  upon  henceforth  as  the  foundation 
stone  in  woman's  work,  and  in  a  few  years  the  Woman's  Board 
of  Home  Missions  took  its  place  as  a  necessary  force  in  the  on- 
ward march  of  evangelization.  Throughout  the  Church  was  man- 
ifest unusual  activity.  The  operations  of  the  General  Board  of 
Missions  became  more  vigorous,  more  far-reaching.  The  treas- 
ury felt  the  effects,  and  a  rapidly  increasing  number  of  men  who 
could  not  be  spared  at  home  said :  ''Send  me;  I  will  go." 

Statistics  prove  that  the  average  amount  contributed  to  the 
General  Board  has  been  much  greater  since  women,  the  reserve 
force,  took  their  proper  places  in  moving  forward  the  "Ark  of  the 
Covenant."  It  must  not  be  inferred  that  the  wheels  of  progress 
felt  no  impediments,  have  had  no  obstacles.  This  was  not  possi- 
ble ;  but  these  things  have  served  well  to  stimulate  activity,  to 
make  willing  hands  stronger.  Woman's  work  has  not  been  re- 
garded as  an  intruder,  but  as  a  welcome  helper  to  the  General 
Board  in  bringing  the  world  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  With  few  ex- 
ceptions the  ordained  ministry  has  been  wise  to  recognize  the 
value  of  such  organizations,  and  has  readily  taken  away  obstruc- 
tions. In  the  foreign  field  the  missionaries  of  the  General  Board 
have,  with  remarkably  few  exceptions,  greeted  with  gladness  the 
missionaries  of  the  Woman's  Board.  Our  Constitution  is  a  wise 
instrument,  with  no  disagreeable  restrictions.  The  Woman's 
Board  is  not  only  permitted  to  collect  its  funds,  but  to  disburse 
the  same,  and  send  directly  to  the  field.  "The  funds  of  this  Board 
shall  be  derived  from  private  efforts,"  so  reads  Article  YIII.  of 
the  Constitution,  "from  membership,  life  and  honorary  member- 
ship fees,  from  devises  and  bequests,  and  from  public  collec- 
tions only  at  meetings  appointed  in  behalf  of  the  Society." 
More  than  this,  the  Secretaries  of  the  General  Board  are  accessi- 
ble at  all  times,  and  ready  with  helpful  suggestions  and  able 
counsel  whenever  called  upon.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  The 
Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  forms  a  part  of  the  magnifi- 


WOMAN  S    WORK    IN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  227 


MRS. 
TKUEHEART. 


cent  machinery  of  the  Church  in  its  God-given  power,  and  is  so 
recognized  by  all  the  great  minds  of  the  mighty  hosts.  The  Wom- 
an's Board  of  Foreign  Missions  is  composed  of  six  general  officers, 
six  Managers,  three  of  whom  must  reside  in  or  near  Nashville, 
the  headquarters  of  Church  operations,  where  the  General 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  must  also  reside.  An  annual  meeting 
of  these  officers,  Managers,  and  Conference  Secretaries  that  con- 
stitute the  Woman's  Board  reviews  each  year's  work,  plans  for 
the  future,  appropriates  its  funds,  and  extends  the  work.  Few 
changes  have  been  found  necessary  in  our  Constitution,  and  in 
twenty-three  years  few  changes  have  been  made  in  the  officers 
and  managers  of  our  Board.  Our  first  honored  President,  Mrs. 
Juliana  Hayes,  who  died  in  1895,  was  succeeded  by  Mrs.  M.  D. 
Wightman,  much  beloved,  and  our  first  General  Secretary,  Mrs. 
D.  H.  McGavock,  whose  guiding  hand  is  still  felt,  though  called 
from  earth  a  few  months  after  Mrs.  Hayes  entered  into  rest,  has 
had  but  one  successor,  the  present  incumbent.  Only  one  change 
has  been  made  in  the  General  Treasurer  in  all  these  years,  show- 
ing in  the  selection  of  this  important  officer  the  wisdom  that 
guides  the  choice  of  the  Board.  Our  Board  has  never  borrowed 
money,  never  incurred  a  debt,  never  failed  in  loyalty  to  the  con- 
stituted authorities  of  the  Church.  It  has  sent  out  since  18/8 
ninety-six  missionaries,  and  put  into  the  treasury  nearly  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  dollars.  At  this  time  we  are  supporting  fifty-four 
missionaries,  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  teachers  and  native  help-  History. 
ers.  seventeen  boarding  schools,  sixty-one  day  schools,  six  kin- 
dergartens, two  hospitals,  two  Bible  colleges  in  China,  sixty 
Bible  women,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  scholarships, 
our  average  annual  collections  since  the  end  of  1880  being  about 
$65,000. 

The  year  following   the   adoption  of  the  Constitution   fifteen 
Conference   Societies   were   organized,   two  hundred   and   seven 
auxiliaries,  with  a  membership  of  5,890.     Conference  Societies 
coincide  with  the  boundaries  of  the   Annual   Conferences,   and 
auxiliaries,  which  constitute  a  Conference  Society,  are  to  be  or- 
ganized in  the  various  stations,  churches,  and  preaching  places. 
The  Conference  Societies  were  not  at  first  divided  into  districts.   R    -d  de7elop- 
Only  $2,690  resulted  from  this  first  year's  work,  and  this  amount  ment. 
was  mostly  membership  fees  of  a  dollar  and  twenty  cents  a  mem- 
ber a  vear.  or  ten  cents  a  month.     This  small  fee  was  made  a 


228 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS 
TRUEKKART. 


China. 


Other  fields, 


condition  of  membership  that  no  one,  not  even  the  very  poorest, 
should  be  debarred  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  institution. 
Various  means  were  used  to  supplement  this  small  fee :  such  as 
life  memberships,  thank  offerings,  and  a  recommendation  to 
those  who  were  able  and  willing  to  make  the  monthly  fee  twenty- 
five  cents  instead  of  ten.  It  was  decided  early  in  the  enterprise 
to  ask  a  small  yearly  sum  to  meet  the  cost  of  administration. 
Many  valuable  women,  quite  competent  to  serve  as  officers  and 
leaders,  have  not  the  means  to  meet  the  expenses  incurred  in  such 
work ;  and  as  the  Board  was  based  upon  correct  business  prin- 
ciples, as  well  as  upon  religious,  this  contingent  fund  was  rec- 
ognized as  indispensable,  and,  while  not  as  carefully  collected 
now  as  in  the  earlier  years,  it  has  continued  as  a  settled  policy  of 
the  Board.  Upon  the  basis  of  5,890  members,  a  small  constit- 
uency, and  with  the  meager  sum  of  $2,690,  the  Board,  in  18/8. 
accepted  Miss  Lochie  Rankin's  application,  and  sent  her  to  China 
as  our  first  missionary,  where  she  found  a  warm  welcome  from 
Mrs.  J.  \Y.  Lambuth.  and  immediately  prepared  to  take  part  in 
the  woman's  work,  which  had  already  opened  up  under  Mrs.  Lam- 
buth's  supervision.  Having  a  special  representative  in  the  field 
was  a  wonderful  stimulus  to  more  vigorous  effort.  At  the  second 
annual  meeting  of  the  Board  it  shows  the  following  table  of  sta- 
tistics:  22  Conference  Societies,  441  auxiliaries,  and  12.272  mem- 
bers; an  increase  in  juvenile  societies  was  also  a  most  interesting 
feature.  Training  the  children  was  the  hope  of  future  success, 
and  received  prayerful  attention. 

In  1879  a  second  missionary  was  sent  out  to  China,  the  lament- 
ed Dora  Rankin,  whose  brilliant  career  continues  still  to  lend  a 
radiance  to  the  work  in  Xantziang.  At  this  time,  also,  steps  were 
taken  toward  entering  other  fields.  Brazil  and  Mexico  were  call- 
ing, and  eager  hands  were  held  out  for  their  deliverance.  In 
Brazil  Piracicaba  became  the  center  of  operations,  with  Miss 
Watts  in  charge.  Soon  Rio  was  entered,  then  Juiz  de  Fora  and 
Petropolis,  until  now  schools  have  been  planted  and  flourish  not 
only  in  these  important  stations  but  in  Sao  Paulo  City,  Ribeirao 
Preto,  and  Porto  Alegre,  in  the  Province  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul.  Papal  lands  offer  fiercer  opposition  to  the  entrance  of  the 
pure  gospel  even  than  pagan  countries,  and  the  need  of  the  truth 
is  as  great,  and  to  give  the  truth  to  these  was  gladly  determined. 

Mexico,  entered  in  1881.  the  same  year  that  Brazil  was  opened, 


WOMAN  S   WORK   IN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS.  229 


MRS. 
TKUEHEART. 


became  at  once  an  object  of  interest.  In  the  City  of  Mexico  and 
San  Luis  Potosi  schools  were  opened,  but  in  a  short  time  were 
closed,  and  operations  stressed  at  Laredo,  on  the  United  States 
side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  which  became  the  door  of  entrance  into  Mexico 
the  republic,  and  assumed  immediate  importance  under  Miss  N. 
E.  Holding's  leadership.  From  Laredo  the  Board  proceeded  into 
the  republic  along  the  lines  of  the  National  and  Central  rail- 
roads. Passing  over  Monterey,  where  was  the  Virginia  Rose- 
buds' mission,  work  was  opened  at  Saltillo  in  1886,  in  Durango, 
on  the  International  railroad,  in  1889.  The  mission  was  re- 
opened in  San  Luis  Potosi  in  1890;  planted  in  Chihuahua,  on 
the  Central,  in  the  same  year ;  and  on  another  branch  of  the  Cen- 
tral, in  Guadalajara,  in  1895  ;  until  finally,  at  the  apex  of  this  tri- 
angle of  stations,  work  was  reopened  most  auspiciously  in  the 
capital  city  in  1898.  From  these  well-equipped  and  well-located 
centers  the  light  and  power  of  the  gospel  radiate  throughout  the 
darkness  of  priest-ridden  Mexico. 

Operations  among  the  wild  tribes  of  the  West  found  ready  ac- 
ceptance by  the  Board,  and  Methvin  Institute,  with  its  well- 
selected  faculty  and  curriculum,  with  its  evangelical  force  for 
camp  work,  has  brought  forth  very  gratifying  results. 

Turning  again  to  the  far  East,  where  were  being  garnered  rich 
fruits  in  Shanghai,  Nantziang,  Soochow,  and  Sung-Kiang,  in 
China,  the  eyes  of  the  Woman's  Board  were  directed  to  the  her- 
mit kingdom  of  Korea,  with  its  twelve  millions  of  souls.  Women 
of  fine  mental  endowments,  education,  and  spiritual  power  had 
been  placed  in  charge  of  the  missions  of  China,  Brazil,  and  Mex- 
ico— women  whose  names  will  forever  be  known  in  the  history 
of  our  Church ;  such  women  as  Miss  Laura  A.  Haygood,  of 
blessed  memory,  Miss  Mattie  H.  Watts,  and  Miss  Xannie  E. 
Holding. 

When  Korea  was  adopted  the  Board  was  fortunate  in  having 
an  equally  well-equipped  woman,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Campbell,  to  take 
charge.  Carolina  Institute  in  Seoul,  woman's  work  in  Song-do,  Korea. 
and  successful  evangelistic  efforts  at  both  stations  give  promise 
of  results  that  fill  our  hearts  with  thanksgiving.  These  countries, 
with  Cuba  the  latest,  the  youngest,  call  out  much  vigorous  labor, 
and  extension  in  every  field  waits  only  upon  the  resources  of  the 
Board.  Beyond  occupation  by  the  General  Board  we  arc  re- 
stricted by  our  Constitution  ;  yet.  sad  to  say.  our  resources,  up 


230  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

to  the  present,  have  not  allowed  our  following  the  General  Board 
into  all  the  places  they  now  occupy.  Gladly  would  we  enter 
every  inviting  open  door,  but  borrowing  to  do  God's  work  is  for- 
bidden. In  seeking  to  increase  our  resources  and  fill  our  treas- 
ury, the  Board  has  shown  much  wisdom.  To  spread  broadcast 
missionary  literature,  to  keep  before  the  societies  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  work,  the  God-given  opportunities,  the  heavy  re- 
sponsibilities to  be  assumed,  caused  the  Board  to  publish  thou- 
sands of  leaflets,  which  have  been  gratuitously  distributed ;  to  es- 
tablish (in  1880)  an  efficient  organ,  the  Woman's  Missionary  Ad- 
I'ocate,  and  a  few  years  later  a  juvenile  paper,  the  Little  Worker. 
These  periodicals  have  been  issued  at  a  very  low  subscription 
price  to  place  them  within  easy  reach  of  all.  Their  mission  is, 
Periodicals  of  fjrst  of  all,  to  give  information,  to  awaken  a  missionary  con- 
science, to  multiply  societies  and  increase  membership,  rather  than 
become  a  source  of  revenue.  They  do  more  to  keep  in  vigorous 
life  the  whole  organization,  to  inspire  zeal,  and  bring  in  close 
touch  the  far-away  fields  with  the  base  of  supplies,  than  any  other 
agency;  and  the  funds  paid  out  to  supplement  their  cost  are  very 
small  when  compared  to  the  money  they  bring  into  the  treasury 
and  the  means  of  education  they  furnish  the  women  and  children. 
In  addition  to  the  means  named  for  enlisting  a  larger  constitu- 
ency and  supplying  the  information  that  fires  the  heart  with  holy 
enthusiasm,  the  Board  encourages  the  adoption  and  support  of 
specials  by  individuals  or  societies.  These  specials  are  selected 
by  the  Board,  but  the  funds  for  their  support  being  outside  of 
dues,  the  necessary  sums  to  send  out  missionaries,  sustain 
them,  build  and  equip  homes  and  schools  and  hospitals  may  be 
appropriated  by  the  benefactors,  and  sent  directly  to  the  ben- 
eficiaries. These  specials  include  Bible  women,  day  schools  and 
scholarships.  The  reflex  influence  of  these  specials  is  too  decided 
to  be  discouraged,  and,  while  they  cost  time  and  thought  and 
care,  they  form  a  powerful  connecting  link  between  the  early 
steps  of  progress,  and  final  triumph  from  infantile  days  to  vig- 
orous womanhood,  in  the  cause  of  foreign  missions.  Native  Bible 
women  are  as  valuable  in  the  evangelistic  efforts  of  the  mission- 
aries as  schools  and  colleges  in  the  educational.  Such  women 
have  direct  personal  touch  with  their  heathen  sisters,  very  fruitful 
in  happy  results,  as  all  our  missionaries  testify ;  but  well-rounded, 
finely  equipped  Bible  \vomen  are  not  born  :  they  must  first  be 


TRUEIIEART. 


BIBLE  WOMEN.  231 

instructed,  soundly  converted,  and  trained  in  our  Bible  schools.   MRS- 
In  twenty-three  years  a  number  have  been  thus  prepared,  and 
have  done  fine  work. 

The  Woman's  Board  has  been  fortunate  and  unfortunate  in  its 
medical  work — fortunate  in  having  secured  for  its  hospitals  and 
dispensaries  such  physicians  as  Dr.  Mildred  Phillips  Leech,  Dr.  Medical  work. 
Anne  Walter  Fearn,  and  Dr.  Margaret  Polk ;  but  unfortunate 
that  a  larger  number  of  consecrated  women  called  of  God  to  the 
foreign  field  are  not  willing  to  prepare  as  medical  missionaries. 

But  the  limits  of  this  paper  will  not  allow  enlargement  upon 
any  of  these  vital  points.  I  will  close  with  a  few  statistics  of 
operations  at  home.  There  are  35  Conference  Societies,  2,290 
auxiliaries,  72,644  members,  the  Scarritt  Bible  and  Training 
School,  well  equipped  with  teachers  and  appliances,  and  two 
monthly  papers  with  several  thousand  interested  readers  who 
grow  in  intelligence  as  well  as  in  the  grace  of  God. 

The  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  owe  more  to  God,  through  the  reflex  action  of  this  glo- 
rious missionary  work,  than  can  be  reckoned  in  dollars  and  cents. 
With  joy  we  to-day  thank  God  that  he  has  given  us  the  gospel ; 
has  given  us  educational  facilities ;  given  us  strong,  irresistible 
desire  to  evangelize  every  tribe  and  tongue,  and  opportunities 
as  wide  as  the  world  and  privileges  as  high  as  heaven. 


BIBLE    W  O  M  E  X.  , 

MRS.    M.    I.    LAMBUTH. 

OF  them  it  is  said,  "There  was  a  time  when  they  were  not," 
and  that  "it  has  taken  nineteen  hundred  years  to  make  them  ap- 
preciated." Even  if  this  be  true,  the  need  for  them  be- 
gan nearly  six  thousand  years  ago.  when  the  first  shadow  fell  upon 
Eden;  and  it  may  be  that  some  Old  Testament  women  were,  in 
their  times  and  places,  what  Bible  women  are  to  us.  If  visits 
could  have  been  exchanged,  there  would  have  been  many  subjects 
of  mutual  interest,  and  as  they  conversed  of  the  ''Angel  of  the 
Lord,"  the  "Author  of  Salvation."  the  "Corner  Stone,"  the 


232  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  LAMBUTH.  "^j;an  of  Sorrows,"  the  "Wonderful  One,"  so  long  promised  to  the 
children  of  God,  much  light  and  interest  could  have  been  given 
by  the  Bible  women,  since  they  knew  from  the  New  Testament 
their  fuller  meaning.  They  could  have  told  that  the  "Author  of 
Salvation"  had  taken  on  humanity,  that  he  had  shown  himself  the 
"Chief  Corner  Stone"  of  Christianity,  and  that  he  was  indeed  the 
"Wonderful  One,"  for  had  not  he  been  the  healer  to  many  incur- 
ably diseased  people?  had  he  not  miraculously  fed  the  hungry 
by  his  divine  power?  was  there  not  testimony  that  the  blind  had 
Bible  women  been  given  sight,  and  the  dead  had  been  brought  to  life?  Yes, 
of  the  Bible,  "he  had  been  despised  and  rejected  of  men;"  he  had  been 
"wounded  for  the  world's  transgressions,"  as  was  foretold  long 
years  before  he  came.  More  than  this,  there  was  the  dreadful 
agony  upon  the  cross,  the  death,  the  going  down  into  the  grave, 
the  coming  forth  from  the  dread  place  in  life,  and  the  resurrection 
morn,  when  he  gave  to  the  women  early  at  his  sepulcher  the  com- 
mand to  "go  tell"  the  wonderful  tidings,  and  bestowed  upon  them 
the  new,  the  grandest  opportunity,  with  the  most  sublime  theme, 
that  has  ever  been  given  upon  earth.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  on 
receiving  their  commission  those  honored  women  fell  at  his 
feet  in  adoration  and  made  haste  to  do  his  will?  Is  it  strange  that 
from  then  until  now  women  have  loved  to  tell  the  story  of  redeem- 
ing love  to  those  who  have  not  heard  or  read  it?  Stranger  by  far 
will  it  be  if  woman  loses  her  enthusiasm  and  feels  not  the  need, 
the  duty,  and  the  privilege  to  help  take  and  send  the  wonderful 
tidings  whenever  and  to  whomsoever  it  is  not  yet  given,  until 
Jesus  shall  come  again  and  the  need  shall  cease. 

It  is  inspiring  to  think  that  women  in  Western  Asia  and  South- 
cast  Europe  became  coworkers  with  the  apostles  of  early  Church- 
es, and  that  they  have  an  honorable  mention  in  the  Xew  Testa- 
ment history  as  examples  of  consecration  and  zealous  activity  in 
God's  service  becoming  the  Bible  women  of  their  time.  It  is  \vell 
for  us  that  Christianity  went  with  women  into  Western  Europe, 
Great  Britain,  and  on  to  America,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
ceased  not  to  influence  them  to  seek  out  and  help  the  Christless 
at  home  and  abroad  to  appropriate  gospel  blessings  so  freely  of- 
fered to  all. 

\\  c  do  well  to  cherish  a  high  degree  of  gratitude,  too,  that  the 
privilege  of  knowing  and  feeling  for  the  sorrows  of  India's  zena- 
nas, the  wail  of  China's  hopeless  and  bereaved  mothers,  and  of 


BIBLE  WOMEX.  233 

sympathizing  with  the  degradation  of  Africa's  women,  came  to  M 
Christian  women  and  caused  them  to  go  out  with  Bible  religion  as 
Bible  women  and  seek  to  bring  heathen  mothers  and  daughters  up  Th€  iniplra. 
and  out  from  their  darkness  into  the  saving  light  of  the  gospel ;  tion. 
to  bring  them  from  the  worship  of  dumb  idols,  the  belief  of  vain 
superstitions,  and  the  observance  of  horrible  customs  that  had 
surrounded  them  for  ages  past. 

Yes,  it  is  a  special  blessing  to  our  sex  that  some  women  felt 
called  to  "go  tell"  of  Jesus,  and  to  break  the  silence,  to  lift  the  cur- 
tain that  shut  millions  of  wromen  in  from  Christian  light,  love,  and 
privilege. 

It  was  well,  too,  that  married  women  were  willing  to  go  and  es- 
tablish Christian  homes  and  firesides,  thereby  proving  that  in  them 
there  was  joy  and  honor  such  as  never  came  to  those  without 
Christ  Jesus.  It  was  not  the  work  of  a  week,  a  month,  or  a  year 
to  bring  heathen  wives  and  mothers  to  them,  but  in  God's  own  time 
they  came,  cautiously  but  surely,  and  enjoyed  being  guests  in  a 
mission  home.  Their  visits  gave  them  opportunity  to  look 
around,  and  to  see  that  they  were  clean ;  and,  if  not  very  well  fur- 
nished, they  were  bright  and  comfortable  as  compared  with  the 
dark  and  cheerless  rooms  in  which  they  lived.  Many  a  time  did 
a  company  of  such  visitors  look  around  and  exclaim,  "How 

clean!"  "how  beautiful!"  and  sometimes,  as  in  China,  sav  to  one   , 

Chinese  im- 

another:  "This  is  heaven."     Such  appreciation  of  a  humble  Chris-  pressions  of  a 
tian  home  made  its  mistress  feel  all  the  more  anxious  to  under-  christla11 

home. 

stand  the  language  of  her  guests,  nor  was  she  long  in  becoming 
able  to  say  that  her  home  was  not  beautiful  as  she  used  the  word, 
but  there  were  beautiful  homes  in  the  mansions  of  God  in  heaven, 
where  the  good  from  all  countries  dwelt  after  death.  Such  simple 
words,  with  many  precious  promises  and  truths  from  the  Bible, 
told  over  and  over  to  Eastern  women  began,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  wear  away  the  barriers  to  long-closed  homes  and  hearts, 
run!  little  by  little  the  women  understood  something  of  what  was 
being  given.  At  times  there  was  little  or  no  visible  good  result- 
ing, and  many  methods  were  used  to  create  lasting  interest. 
Books  were  shown,  the  Bible  was  put  into  women's  hands  by  the 
missionary  women  saying:  "If  you  will  read  this  book,  you  will 
find  many  more  wonderful  and  excellent  things  than  I  can  tell 
you."  "Read,  did  you  say.  lady?  \Yliy,  we  cannot  read.  Xo  one 
ever  taught  us.  \Ye  do  not  know  one  word  from  another  in  books. 


234 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS.  LAMBUTH. 


Beginnings. 


sociefeW 


T^T  &  £o  nQj.  |<noAV  f-ftg  name  of  a  single  character.  How,  then, 
could  we  read?  Have  you  never  heard  that  reading  is  not  for 
women,  and  that  a  cow  or  a  cat  might  as  well  be  taught  as  we?" 

In  1834  Rev.  David  Abeel,  a  returned  missionary,  while  in  Lon- 
don, England,  presented  to  some  women  there  the  deplorable  con- 
dition of  their  heathen  sisters,  and  stimulated  them  to  organize, 
and  a  society  for  the  promotion  of  female  education  was  formed. 
It  continues  its  work  even  now,  having  for  its  first  aim  to  point 
all  pupils  to  the  Lamb  of  God.  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world  ;  secondly,  to  enable  each  pupil  to  read  the  Bible  for  herself 
in  her  own  tongue;  thirdly,  to  impart  all  other  useful  knowledge 
that  circumstances  may  render  advisable;  and  fourthly,  to  train 
native  agents  to  carry  on  the  work. 

Mr.  Abeel  next  visited  New  York  City  and  made  such  an  ap- 
peal to  ladies  there  that  they  organized  for  work,  but,  at  the  ur- 
gent request  of  Church  Boards,  their  society  was  abandoned  until 
1860,  when  Mrs.  Frances  B.  Mason,  from  Burma,  so  effectually 
told  the  sad  story  of  heathen  women's  woes  and  needs  that  there 
was  no  resisting  the  duty  of  setting  to  work.  The  late  Mrs.  T.  C. 
Doremus  was  chosen  President  of  the  Woman's  Union  Mission- 
ary Society  then  organized,  and  no  work  ever  had  a  truer  friend 
or  a  more  faithful  leader.  This  godly  woman  had  been  interested 
*n  orgam'zecl  mission  work  from  1828.  She  had  rejoiced  in  the 
prospect  for  a  living  society  in  1834;  how  much  more  ready,  then, 
was  she  to  throw  her  whole  soul  into  the  leading  of  i86o's  society  ! 
The  first  year  of  its  existence  four  Bible  women  were  supported 
in  India.  China,  Burma,  and  a  lady  in  Japan  was  helped  to  make 
a  start  there. 

It  was  during  the  civil  war  in  America  that  pupils  and  Bible 
women  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  were  aided  by 
this  society  to  continue  work  in  and  around  Shanghai,  China,  and 
without  such  help  there  must  have  been  a  falling  back  to  heathen 
homes  and  a  retreat  from  Bible  efforts.  Some  of  these  pupi;s 
have  been  called  from  earth,  and  one  or  two  Bible  women  have 
exchanged  service  for  reward.  How  glorious  must  have  been 
the  meeting  with  their  benefactress  in  the  glory  land  ! 

The  appropriations  of  this  society  were  both  liberal  and  oppor- 
tune in  times  and  places  owned  and  blessed  of  God.  The  Bible 
women  of  this  societv  in  India,  China,  and  Tapan  are  known  to  b 


BIBLE  WOMEN.  235 

consecrated,  zealous,  and  skillful  workers,  and  we  praise  God  for  *rRS-  LA^BUTH. 
its  organization  and  more  than  forty  years  of  existence. 

In  1869  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  began  its  Woman's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  With  strong  faith  in  God,  with  but 
little  money,  brave  hearts  determined  to  advance,  and  when  it  M  ...  church- 
seemed  an  impossibility  to  meet  the  expenses  for  sending  out  their 
missionary  one  of  the  committee  said  :  "Shall  we  lose  our  mission- 
ary because  we  have  not  funds  in  hand  to  send  her?  No,  we  will 
walk  the  streets  of  Boston  in  calico  dresses,  and  save  the  expense 
of  costly  apparel."  It  was  agreed  that  she  should  be  sent,  and 
their  first  female  worker  to  India  was  appointed.  In  a  few 
months  a  second  one  was  accepted  for  the  same  field.  Farewell 
meetings  were  held  both  in  Boston  and  New  York  City.  In  the 
latter  place  Old  Bedford  Street  Churdi.  from  which  Ann  Wilkins 
went  to  Africa  in  1836,  was  chosen  as  suitable  for  that  occasion, 
and  in  it  a  large  and  enthusiastic  audience  gathered  to  give  God- 
speed to  the  missionaries  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety, "and  at  fifty  cents  a  ticket,  too."  In  the  chancel,  in  the 
pulpit,  on  the  pulpit  steps,  and  wherever  there  was  room,  a  host  of 
ministers  sat  to  see  the  strange  sight  of  two  young  women  going 
thousands  of  miles  away  into  a  foreign  land  to  teach  heathen  wom- 
en the  Bible  and  its  religion,  with  no  other  pledge  of  support  than 
that  of  a  handful  of  women  whose  first  year's  collections  were  $4.- 
546.86  wherewith  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  work.  Those  two 
women  went,  they  studied,  they  taught,  they  encouraged  the  wom- 
en, they  prayed  for  and  with  them,  until  now  India's  Methodist 
Bible  women  are  numbered  by  the  hundreds,  in  China  also 
(Xorth,  South,  Central,  and  West)  they  are  at  work. 

In   18/7  there  were  no  regularly  employed   Bible  women   in 
Peking,  but  there  was  the  ''cloud  as  big  as  a  man's  hand."     A 

mother  in  Shantung  Province,  and  she  a  widow  of  unusual  ear- 
in  Chins. 

nestness,  living  near  to  the  birthplace  of  Confucius  and  Mencius. 
and  four  hundred  miles  from  Peking,  wanted  to  know  "the  doc- 
trine." and  made  the  sixteen  days'  journey  on  a  wheelbarrow 
pushed  by  her  own  son.  Two  daughters  went  with  their  mother. 
Everybody  laughed  and  prophesied  all  sorts  of  evil.  She  was 
called  crazy,  and  was  told  that  she  never  could  learn  to  read.  She 
not  only  learned  to  read,  but  became  one  of  the  most  efficient 
helpers  in  the  North  China  M.  E.  Mission,  where  she  was  em- 
ployed as  day  school  teacher,  hospital  assistant.  Bible  reader,  aivi 


236 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Training 
schools  for 
Bible  women. 


MRS.  LAMBUTH.  traveling  companion.  Her  son  became  a  preacher,  and  her 
daughters  exemplary  Christian  mothers. 

If  the  work  of  Bible  women  is  so  important,  how  necessary  it  is 
that  through  training  schools  their  qualification  should  be  pro- 
vided for !  Ten  years  from  the  starting  out  of  this  society  a  Bible 
woman's  school  in  Soochow,  Southern  China,  was  opened.  Elev- 
en years  after,  there  were  forty  different  women  in  school  during 
one  year.  Thirteen  years  after  its  opening,  twenty-five  women 
were  taking  the  regular  course  of  study.  In  1893  the  work  of  the 
Bible  women  had  become  so  important  that  a  native  preacher  was 
released  from  his  Conference  work  to  take  charge  of  a  training 
school  in  which  nine  women  passed  such  fine  examinations  that 
the  preachers  were  greatly  surprised  that  women  could  do  so  well. 
The  Foochow  school  had  the  hono"  of  being  requested  to  send  a 
Bible  woman  to  Nanking,  the  ancient  Southern  capital  near  the 
Yang-tse  river.  A  timid  little  widow,  but  with  a  heart  filled  with 
the  love  of  God,  and  whose  happiness  was  in  helping  to  save  souls, 
responded  and  went  to  the  distant  province  to  lead  women  to 
Jesus.  In  Northern  China  there  are  also  Bible  training  schools, 
the  women  in  them  chosen  or  selected  from  various  districts  and 
stations.  It  is  told  of  one  Bible  woman  there  of  sixty-nine  years, 
who  was  faithful  and  gave  great  satisfaction,  that  when  overtaken 
by  sickness,  and  being  told  how  necessary  she  was  to  the  work, 
protested,  saying:  "I  cannot  help  build  the  Master's  house.  I'm 
not  a  mason;  I  can  only  carry  a  little  plaster  for  the  mason?," 
showing  thus  her  meekness  in  those  last  years  when  her  work  was 
almost  done.  She  was  gathered  home,  but  her  influence  among 
those  who  knew  or  heard  of  her  led  many  to  honor  her  for  faith- 
fulness in  God's  work. 

It  would  be  a  pleasure  to  follow  this  society's  Bible  women  in 
Ching  Kiang,  King  Kiang,  Woohu,  and  into  Western  China, 
where,  far  removed  from  the  outside  busy  life  of  nations,  women 
are  more  accessible  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  great  empire. 
Time  forbids,  and  we  will  add  only  that  after  thirty-two  years' 
work  our  sister  Church  has  over  one  thousand  Bible  women  and 
other  helpers,  seeking  to  give  light  and  salvation  wherever  it  is 
not,  with  an  annual  receipt  of  $360,000. 

The  very  first  Bible  woman  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  China  became  a  Christian  while  living  with  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Cunnyno-ham  at  Shanghai,  and  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Cunnyngham 


BIBLE  WOMEN.  237 


MRS.  LAMBUTH. 


after  a  long  probation  and  careful  examination  as  to  her  change 
of  faith  and  willingness  to  give  up  whatever  of  her  former  life  was 
opposed  to  Christianity.  So  considerable  an  amount  of  general  M  E  Church 
Bible  knowledge  had  been  digested  by  Mrs.  Quay  (for  that  was  south. 
the  Bible  woman's  name)  that  she  could  give  the  outlines  of  sev- 
eral important  portions  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Other 
books  were  not  neglected,  catechisms,  hymns,  promises,  and  some 
biographies  were  familiar  to  her,  and  could  be  quoted  with  ease 
when  occasion  made  it  desirable  to  do  so.  Having  been  a  devout 
Buddhist  jefore  conversion  to  Christianity,  she  felt  it  her  duty  to 
make  up  for  the  years  in  which  she  worshiped  idols  and  ancestors 
and  observed  Buddhistic  ceremonies.  No  work  was  too  difficult 
to  undertake  for  Jesus's  sake.  Xo  person  was  too  humble  for 
her  to  approach  in  the  interest  of  her  soul,  and  her  home, 
though  not  large,  was  always  sufficient  to  shelter  the  homeless  and 
the  orphan.  Several  such  persons  went  from  this  home  to  heaven, 
leaving  grateful  memories  of  the  Christian  influences  thrown 
around  them  there. 

In  the  department  of  Church  work  Mrs.  Quay  led  the  women 
in  prayer  meetings  and  Bible  classes,  and  sought  out  others  to 
bring  into  Sunday  schools  and  mothers'  meetings.  It  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  her  when  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  a 
church  or  chapel  to  prepare  on  Saturdays  food  for  such  women  as 
could  not  go  home  and  return  for  Sunday  afternoon  service.  In- 
deed, it  became  quite  a  usual  custom  for  them  to  bring  uncooked 
rice  tied  up  in  a  clean  cloth,  and  by  putting  it  into  Mrs.  Quay's 
rice  box  make  some  return  for  her  generous  provision  for  them. 

In  family  visitations  books  were  taken  for  distribution.  The 
P>ible  was  a  special  book  that  she  gave  or  sold  as  she  could.  The 
{'•resent  of  a  book  to  a  father  or  son  in  a  family  often  made  friends 
for  the  Bible  woman,  and  left  the  door  open  to  her  on  a  return 
visit.  It  was  a  point  with  her  to  know  the  contents  of  a  new  book 
to  be  distributed,  so  that  she  could  the  more  intelligently  talk  of 
it.  with  her  people. 

At  out  stations  it  was  customary  to  hold  special  meetings  for 
women  in  a  schoolroom,  chapel,  or  such  other  home  as  was 
available.  Invitations  to  these  meetings  were  given  to  any  within 
reach.  If  they  failed  to  appear  for  the  one  asking,  another  invita-  pr0ce™^,e 
tion  was  sent,  and  frequently  a  number  of  women  would  be  pres- 
ent. A  cup  of  clear  tea,  and  sometimes  a  cake,  were  served  in 


238  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  LAMBUTH.  Qrjenta|  ^y^  and  helped  to  strengthen  a  kindly  feeling  among 
them  all. 

There  were  not  many  of  the  high  class  women  in  those  days  to 
come  out,  nor  was  it  only  the  middle  class  women  that  attended 
the  meetings.  The  poor  and  the  unlettered  were  sought  out  and 
urged  to  come  also,  for  they  needed  the  brightness  of  Christianity 
to  cheer  their  lone  hearts.  Among  them  we  will  mention  one,  a 
poor,  aged,  and  feeble  woman.  She  heard  how  Jesus  healed  the 
sick  and  fed  the  hungry ;  that  he  was  kind  to  the  lonely  and  sor- 
rowing. She  understood  enough  to  feel  that  it  would  have  been 
good  for  her  to  have  lived  then,  and  she  said :  "I  should  like  to 
have  known  that  teacher."  She  was  told  that  he  could  see  her, 
that  he  would  send  joy  and  comfort  to  her  heart  even  then ;  but 
she  feared  she  was  "too  old,"  "too  stupid,"  "too  poor,"  to  be 
noticed. 

The  Bible  woman  walked  home  with  her  that  evening  talking 
of  Jesus.  She  made  various  other  visits,  and  hoped  that  the  sown 
A  convert.  see<^  would  surely  spring  up  and  that  a  harvest  for  God's  glory 
was  not  far  away.  Other  work  called  her  away  for  a  short  time, 
but  as  soon  as  she  could  she  returned,  and  went  at  once  to  renew 
her  visits  to  this  desolate  friend.  The  house  was  shut,  and  on  in- 
quiry a  neighbor  told  her  that  the  woman  was  dead,  and  that  her 
body  lay  in  its  coffin  on  the  ground  not  far  from  the  house.  Mrs. 
Quay,  in  telling  me  of  it  afterwards,  said  :  "I  was  at  first  confused 
to  death,  but  I  soon  asked  if  there  was  no  message  left  for  me,  and 
if  she  said  nothing  before  dying."  "Well,  yes,"  replied  the  neigh- 
bor, "she  was  all  the  time  saying,  'Jesus,  Jesus,  save  me;  Jesus, 
save  me !'  until  her  body  was  nearly  cold  and  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
something  above  her,  when  she  smiled,  and  was  gone."  To  Mrs. 
Quay  these  words  were  very  precious,  and  she  felt  sure  that  the 
gospel  seed  had  taken  root,  and  that  at  the  eleventh  hour  there 
had  been  saving  faith,  and  that  the  angels  came  and  took  her 
spirit  home  to  the  "house  of  many  mansions." 

Much  more  could  be  told  of  this  Bible  woman,  known  as  Quay 
Ta-Ta,  but  we  have  given  proof  of  her  faithfulness,  and  of  her  be- 
ing blessed  of  God.  She  lived  to  be  more  than  seventy  years  old, 
and  passed  awav  while  at  work  in  an  out  station,  having  no  fears 
of  death.  Her  heart  was  full  of  joy  at  having  been  allowed  to 
help  lead  some  of  her  people  to  the  Saviour.  It  has  been  well 
said  of  her  that  "her  faithfulness  won  many  to  Christ."  Quay  Ta- 


BIBLE  WOMEN.  239 

Ta's  second  daughter-in-law  and  two  granddaughters  are  active  MRS>  LAMBLTH- 
Christians,  Bible  workers,  making  three  generations  of  Christian 
workers,  and  four  of  baptized  members.  An  incident  connected 
with  one  granddaughter  during  last  year's  anti-Christian  excite- 
ment in  China  will  be  allowable  here,  showing  that  God's  Holy 
Spirit  helps  to  make  converted  heathen  women  strong,  brave,  and 
true  to  their  convictions.  One  day  this  woman  and  her  friend 
went  shopping  in  the  Shanghai  native  city,  and  just  before  leaving 
a  store  a  s'range  man  rudely  taunted  them  thus :  "We  know  who 
you  are ;  you  are  some  of  those  Christians.  You  are  marked ; 
vour  dress,  your  hair  arrangements  are  unlike  true  Chinese. 
Your  finger  nails  are  cut  short,  your  feet  are  large  like  foreigners.  Courage 
It  will  not  be  long  before  the  knife  will  pass  thus  across  your 
necks,"  he  making  a  gesture  significant  of  decapitation.  To  those 
words  there  was  no  reply  until  his  speech  was  finished,  when  the 
granddaughter  spoke  out  fearlessly :  "You  can  kill  but  once. 
You  rnav  kill  the  body,  but  the  soul  is  in  the  care  of  God,  the  liv- 
ing, heavenly  God;  it  never  dies;  it  cannot  be  killed."  The  cruel 
man  said  no  more,  but  slunk  away  in  silence,  and  the  women 
went  their  way  unmolested,  sure  that  the  Lord  was  their  Strength 
and  Protector,  and  that  he  gave  them  words  to  speak  for  him. 

Our  Woman's  Board,  with  its  consecrated  workers,  began  in 
China  thirty  years  after  the  Parent  Board  opened  work,  and  had 
six  Bible  women  as  a  nucleus  for  that  department  of  work.  Last 
year's  report  shows  thirty-three  such  workers  in  China,  and  twen- 
ty-seven more  in  Mexico,  South  America,  Korea,  and  Cuba,  mak- 
ing- a  total  of  sixty  Bible  women  employed  by  this  one  society, 
i'hese  sixty  women  are  reaching  a  vast  number — figures  cannot 
cell  the  results  of  their  visits,  their  conversations,  their  ministra-  The  work  to~ 

day. 

tions,  and  their  prayers.    Xot  until  all  are  gathered  home  to  Jesus 
will  it  be  known  how  great  the  result  of  their  work  is. 

Japan  has  Bible  women.  All  denominations  see  their  useful- 
ness. There  was  a  time  when  it  was  thought  unnecessary  to  give 
educational  and  religious  help  to  Japanese  women.  Those  days  are 
past,  and  now  the  best  is  not  too  good,  and  their  uplifting  is  help- 
ins.''  the  nation  to  become  a  model  one.  A  religion  full  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ  Jesus  can  save  both  the  men  and  women  of  Japan. 
It  is  the  desire  of  all  who  are  engaged  in  Christian  work  that  the 
first  '/ear  of  the  new  centurv  should  be  characterized  by  a  great 
iorwar'.i  r.'ovement. 


240  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  LAMBUTH.  Qn  every  mission  field  the  great  work  of  qualifying  for  Chris- 
tian leadership  is  going  on.  In  the  Bible  schools  trained  and 
consecrated  women  from  the  home  land  are  giving  much  time  to 
the  education  and  equipment  of  native  women.  Nor  are  these 
alone  in  the  work.  Male  missionaries  and  native  preachers  in 
many  places  are  teaching  the  Bible  to  classes  of  women,  and  are 
guiding  them  in  the  pursuit  of  those  studies  which  will  discipline 
and  transform  their  natures,  making  them  responsible  agents  in 
their  work  for  God.  The  need  of  Bible  women,  sympathetic  and 
loving,  is  the  need  of  the  heart  and  of  the  home  in  every  heathen 
land.  As  the  cry  for  help  rises  from  hopes  that  are  wrecked  and 
hearts  that  are  crushed  in  the  habitations  of  cruelty,  of  suffering, 
and  of  sin,  let  the  whole  Church  of  God  awake  and  respond  for  the 
sake  of  Him  through  whom  the  highest  possibilities  of  woman- 
hood have  been  the  heritage  of  the  world. 


Section  VI. 

THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 


THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE  AND  THE  CHURCH   OF  THE 

FUTURE. 

REV.    JAMES    ATKINS,  D.D. 

JESUS  of  Nazareth  was  the  champion  of  youth.  He  threw  the 
light  and  warmth  of  a  tender,  divine  reg'arci  upon  its  untrodden 
paths.  His  view  point  in  dealing  with  childhood  was  new  and 
revolutionary,,  as  much  so  as  was  his  annunciation  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Pie  rose  as  far  above  all  other 
masters  of  men  in  discerning  and  defining  the  value  of  childhood 
in  its  relation  to  manhood  as  he  did  above  the  common  doctors 
of  his  day  in  expounding  the  laws  of  spiritual  life.  The  effect  of 
his  doctrine  was  a  command  to  the  world  to  about  face  and  front 
the  cradle  in  the  solution  of  its  greatest  problems. 

Other  great  teachers  had  regarded  childhood  in  the  main  as  a 
necessary  evil — as  a  period  of  weakness  and  worthlessness — which 
had  to  be  passed  over  in  order  to  reach  the  estate  of  manhood. 
They  saw  that  the  tiger  and  the  lion  leaped  into  almost  instant 
dominion  in  the  jungle,  and  that  within  three  or  four  years  the 
horse  and  ox  became  the  invaluable  servants  of  men.  but  they 
were  never  able  to  see  with  clearness  the  providential  purpose 
in  the  original  weakness  and  long-continued  liclnlessnes?  of  the 
human  offspring.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see.  therefore,  why  it  was 
that  they  were  unable  to  throw  more  than  an  occasional  gleam  of 
light  athwart  the  desolate  darkness  of  unchristian  childhood.  If 
Christianity  had  clone  nothing  more  for  the  world  than  to  lift  the 
dark  shadows  of  neglect  and  cruelty  from  off  the  cradlehood  of 
man,  it  would  have  been  worth  a  thousandfold  more  than  all  ;t- 
earthly  costs.  But  in  lifting  the  shadows  thence,  it  provided  for 
the  lifting  of  them  from  off  the  fields  of  after  life. 

The  rationale  of  the  kingdom  of  God  amoncr  men  is  wrapped 


242  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

up  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  concerning  the  absolute  primacy  of 
The  primacy  of   childhood  in  the  scheme  of  human  destiny. 

childhood. 

While  the  scope  of  this  address  does  not  allow  a  general  dis- 
cussion of  this  doctrine,  a  few  fundamental  statements  are  neces- 
sary, since  the  success  of  the  Church  on  every  line  of  develop- 
ment and  endeavor  depends  on  a  right  interpretation  and  use  of 
what  Jesus  has  said  about  children. 

On  one  occasion,  as  Christ  was  teaching  the  multitude,  certain 
mothers  brought  their  babes  to  him  that  he  might  touch  them 
and  bless  them.  The  disciples,  when  they  saw  this,  rebuked  the 
mothers.  But  Jesus  was  displeased,  as  the  practical  and  candid 
Mark  tells  us  (x.  13,  14),  and  he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his 
hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them.  This  was  a  marvelous  scene. 
The  impulse  of  parental  love  sought  for  the  little  ones  a  contact 
with  the  highest ;  the  condescension  and  love  of  the  Saviour  in- 
vited them,  and  so  soon  as  the  opposition  of  adult  ecclesiastics 
could  be  eliminated  they  came,  and  received  the  blessings  and  ca- 
resses of  the  Son  of  Man.  While  the  situation  itself  teaches  a  les- 
son which  cannot  be  evaded,  Jesus  did  not  leave  so  important  a 
doctrine  to  be  inferred  from  his  acts,  but  said  to  those  parents  and 
those  disciples  and  to  the  successors  of  both  forever :  "Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not." 

"Suffer  them."  This  means  permit,  allow  them  to  come. 
Then  the  impulse  is  within  them  and  the  demand  is  that  it  shall 
not  be  obstructed.  And  the  corresponding  truth  is  that  all  the 
"Sufierthe  elements  in  Jesus  are  such  as  appeal  supremely  to  the  childlike 
children."  heart.  His  kindness,  his  gentleness,  his  candor,  his  simple 
majesty,  his  profound  sympathy,  his  self-immolating  love,  his 
lot  of  suffering,  his  tragic  death,  his  glorious  resurrection  are 
qualities  and  conditions  which  awake  all  the  generous  love  of 
childish  hearts  and  draw  them  toward  him.  What  the  children 
need,  therefore,  most  of  all  is  a  revelation  of  Christ  through  the 
lives  and  teachings  of  those  who  have  the  right  and  place  of  au- 
thoritative guidance.  This  done,  and  they  will  come  to  him. 
His  terms  are  "suffer  them,"  "forbid  them  not." 

On  another  occasion  when  the  disciples,  affected  perhaps  by 
•ertain  selfish  visions,  came  to  Jesus  saying,  "Who  then  is 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven?"  Jesus  called  to  him  a  little 
child  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them.  This  child  was  almost 
certain! v  :>.  boy,  yjossiblv  a  wide-eved.  gaping  boy  who  stood  on 


THE   YOUNG   PEOPLE   AND   THE    CHURCH.  243 

the  inside  of  the  circle  of  hearers,  and  with  undisguised  won-  ATKINS- 
der  of  childish  faith  gazed  up  into  the  face  of  the  Saviour  as  he 
taught  the  people.  There  is  a  tradition  that  this  boy  was  after- 
wards St.  Ignatius  ;*  this  is  one  of  the  few  traditions  of  that  day 
which  I  am  heartily  disposed  to  believe.  In  this  connection  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  say  that  the  boy  is  the  neglected  and 
most  needy  element  in  the  Church  of  to-day.  But  Jesus  then 
said:  "Except  ye  be  converted  [turn  round]  and  become  as  little 
children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  (Matt.  The  child  in 
xviii.  1-3.)  The  indubitable  effect  of  this  statement  was  to  make  r.ie  midst, 
childhood,  which  men  could  understand,  the  analogue  of  condi- 
tions which  otherwise  they  could  not  understand,  at  least  so  well. 
This  statement  brings  up  a  comparison  of  two  policies  :  the  one  is 
to  grow  up  and  become  habituated  away  from  all  that  is  child- 
like— to  grow  into  a  hardened  manhood  and  then  turn  round  and 
become  a  child  again  in  order  to  find  admittance  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;  the  other  is  to  possess  and  indulge  the  qualities  of 
childhood  while  yet  a  child.  The  simple  question  is  whether  it  is 
easier  to  be  a  child  when  one  really  is  a  child,  or  to  quit  being  a 
man  and  become  a  child.  It  is  a  question  of  acquiring  by  disci- 
pline against  many  odds  what  children  already  have  through 
guilelessness.t  In  the  one  way  or  the  other  the  feat  must  be  ac- 
complished. When  Jesus  came  to  answer  fully  the  inquiry  of  the 
disciples  as  to  who  is  greatest  he  said :  "Whosoever  there- 
fore shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is  great- 
e?t  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

But  Jesus  further  said  in  terms  of  generalization  :  "For  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  (Mark  x.  14.)  Many  people  to  this 
day  read  it  as  though  it  had  been  said  :  "For  such  are  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven." 

The  first  interpretation  given  to  this  saying  of  our  Lord  was 
that  certain  childlike  qualities,  such  as  faith,  love,  obedience,  eic.. 
were  necessary  in  order  to  salvation  :  a  position  which  is  true, 
but  which  had  a  full  statement  in  another  and  entirely  different  "Of  such  ;s 

...  1111  i  v  i    •  •  the  kingdom. 

situation,  as  has  already  been  shown.  A  second  interpretation 
was  that  some  children,  under  certain  conditions,  might  become 
members  of  the  visible  Church,  which  was  a  real  and  valuable 
advance,  but  which  by  no  means  measured  up  to  the  full  mean- 


244 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Children  and 
The  Church. 


ing,  which  seems  to  be  this :  that  when  Christ's  ideal  Church  is 
realized  it  will  be  a  Church  of  children — thas  is,  a  Church  whose 
membership  shall  consist  in  the  main  of  those  whose  entrance 
into  it  was  under  the  natural  and  easy  conditions  furnished  by 
childhood,  and  whose  spiritual  growth  has  kept  pace  with  the 
physical  and  intellectual  development  until  a  well-rounded  man- 
hood has  been  attained  under  the  laws  of  growth  which  belong 
to  all  the  kingdoms  of  life.  The  interpretation  does  not,  on  the 
one  hand,  deny  admittance  to  any  individual,  however  aged,  who 
by  neglect  or  willfulness  may  have  missed  the  early  path,  nor  does 
it,  on  the  other  hand,  squint  at  the  doctrine  of  inherited  holiness 
or  any  view  that  would  minimize  the  necessity  of  being  born  again 
by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

I  am  not  unmindful  that  the  Church  began  with  a  grown  up 
generation.  There  was  no  other  way  to  begin  it.  If  the  unbelief 
and  slowness  of  heart  of  the  adults  had  not  prevented  Jesus  from 
having  unprejudiced  access  to  the  children  of  his  day,  he  would 
have  had  a  thousand  believers  to  where  he  obtained  one,  and 
they  would  all  have  been  of  a  better  quality.  But  that  genera- 
tion of  grown  up  initiates  was  the  last  authorized  edition  of  an 
adult  Church.  We  have  had  no  end  of  experiments  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  adults,  and  in  the  disciplining  of  them  to  the  de- 
mands of  religious  life.  Until  recently,  and,  alas  !  too  much  even 
now,  it  has  been  an  almost  settled  policy  to  allow  men  to  grow 
up  and  test  their  powers  of  sinning  until  the  evil  in  them  became 
functioned  in  the  life  before  seriously  seeking  their  recovery. 
This  policy  must  be  reversed,  and,  as  we  shall  presently  notice,  is 
being  reversed  in  a  very  hopeful  degree.  The  Church  is  now 
rapidly  coming  into  the  conviction  which  has  had  notable  indi- 
vidual acceptance  all  along  the  way  of  Christianity,  that  a  gener- 
ation of  grown  up  people  when  evangelized,  or  saved,  is  at  best 
but  half  saved;  first,  because  not  half  of  them  under  the  best  con- 
ditions are  ever  reached  so  as  to  be  vitally  saved  at  all;  and  sec- 
ondly, because  those  who  are  really  converted  in  middle  life  and 
beyond  are  themselves  not  much  more  than  half  saved,  ihey 
are  plucked  as  "brands  from  the  burning,"  but  to  pluck  brands 
from  the  burning  by  no  means  measures  the  full  scope  of  Christ's 
purpose  in  saving  a'soul.  To  be  saved  from  a  fire  is  a  great  thing 
truly,  but  to  be  saved  from  a  life  of  incendiarism  is  a  vastly  great- 


THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE    AND    THE    CHURCH.  245 

er  thing.     Whatever  such  men  may  be  saved  from,  they  are  cer-   ATKINS- 
tainly  not  saved  to  all  that  to  which  Christ  came  to  save  them. 

But  perhaps  the  most  far-reaching  of  the  economic,  commands 
which  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  disciples  is  this:  "See  that  ye  de- 
spise not  one  of  these  little  ones."    (Mark  xviii.  10.)     The  harsh-    "Despise 
est  meaning  of  the  word  "despise"  is  to  ''pour  contempt  upon,"   not-" 
and  its  mildest  meaning  is   "to   undervalue."      undervaluation 
leads  to  contempt,  so  that  undervaluation  is  the  original  sin,  while 
neglect,  contempt,  and  distortion  make  up  the  category  of  actual 
transgression. 

This  command  does  not  declare  an  incidental  guardianship  oi 
the  Church  and  the  family  over  the  childhood  of  the  race.  It  is, 
when  taken  in  connection  with  other  utterances  of  Christ  on  this 
subject,  the  declaration  of  a  policy.  It  is  the  announcement  of  a 
policy  which  is  buttressed  on  the  natural  side  by  analogies  from 
all  the  kingdoms  which  have  life  in  them,  whether  vegetable,  ani- 
mal, or  intellectual,  in  all  which  the  process  is  ever  from  the  po- 
tential to  the  dynamic,  from  the  embryonic  to  the  fully  developed, 
from  the  small  to  the  great.  But  this  plan  is  also  specially  but- 
tressed by  that  wonderful  saying  of  Jesus  :  "For  I  say  unto  you, 
That  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  This  throwing  open  of  the  heaven- 
ly world  that  men  may  see  in  what  estimation  childhood  is  held 
there  further  strengthens  two  other  declarations  which  correct 
false  views  of  the  Church  and  restore  her  to  the  true  plane.  One 
of  these  is,  "AYhoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in  my  name 
receiveth  me  ;''  and.  the  other  is.  "But  whoso  shall  offend  [cause  to 
.-tumble  or  fall]  one  of  these  little  ones  [these  children  and  those  A  poiicy. 
like  them]  which  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill- 
stone were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in 
the  depths  of  the  sea."  (Matt,  xviii.  6.)  The  undervalued  and  neg- 
lected child  is  itself  the  millstone  about  the  neck  of  modern  socie- 
fhcre  has  been  no  age  since  Christ  in  which  a  new  era  might 
not  have  been  made  by  a  literal  interpretation  of  what  Jesus  said 
about  children  instead  of  extracting  from  his  words  a  mere  sym- 
bol by  which  to  teach  adults  concerning  themselves.  The  fre- 
quency with  which  his  command  to  despise  not  the  little  ones  has 
not  only  been  infracted  but  ground  to  powder  by  the  Church  in 
past  ages  is  a  heart-sickening  reflection.  But  many  tokens  out  of 
the  recent  past  and  the  present  indicate  that  a  new  era  is  dawning, 


246 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Beginning  of 
the  Sunday- 
school. 


so  that  the  atmosphere  of  our  own  times  is  full  of  hopefulness. 
The  century  which  has  just  closed  witnessed  a  truly  wonderful 
revolution  in  this  field  of  thought.  Indeed,  great  as  was  its  prog- 
ress in  the  discoveries  of  steam  and  electricity  and  in  the  modes  of 
their  application,  and  in  the  field  of  the  physical  sciences  and  the 
liberal  arts,  its  greatest  achievement  was  the  rediscovery  of  the 
child.  A  moment's  survey  of  this  process  may  be  helpful. 

Without  discounting  the  desultory  efforts  which  after  the 
Reformation  were  made  in  various  lands  to  revive  Christ's  view 
of  childhood  and  youth  and  the  Church's  obligation  to  it,  it  is  but 
just  to  say  that  the  true  renaissance  began  with  the  Sunday  school 
of  Mr.  Raikes  in  Gloucester,  in  1/80.  From  that  small  begin- 
ning of  four  paid  teachers  in  charge  of  a  handful  of  neglected  and 
ignorant  children,  the  Sunday  school  has  grown  into  a  host  of 
more  than  twenty-four  millions.  More  than  two  millions  of  these 
are  consecrated  teachers  giving  freely  and  joyfully  their  services 
to  more  than  twenty-two  millions  of  the  flower  of  the  race.  It 
is  scarcely  to  be  questioned  that  out  of  this  movement,  more  than 
from  any  other  single  source,  came  that  inpulse  toward  free 
popular  education  which  signalized  the  nineteenth  century  more 
than  all  other  civic  movements  combined.  As  a  result  of  the 
advance  on  these  coordinate  lines  of  religious  instruction  and 
general  primary  education,  the  latter  half  of  the  century  was 
characterized  by  a  large  amount  of  literature  devoted  to  child 
study  in  various  forms,  and  withal  not  a  few  valuable  books  on 
the  religious  life  of  childhood  and  youth.  \\  hile  much  of  this 
literature  has  done  little  more  than  to  give  formal  statement  to 
facts  and  principles  which  were  already  fairly  well  known,  it  has 
tended  to  turn  the  attention  of  the  home  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
State  on  the  other,  more  fully  upon  the  importance  and  possibili- 
ties of  the  child.  Dr.  Starbuck.*  for  example,  in  his  work  on  this 
subject,  has  not  brought  forward  much  that  is  new.  And  he  has 
withal  so  spoken  of  religious  experiences  in  the  terms  of  the  ma- 
terial sciences  as  to  forbid  some  of  his  utterances  from  finding  ac- 
ceptance with  a  large  class  of  religious  teachers.  But  lie  has  :n 
certain  regard?  done  a  valuable  service  :  chiefly  in  this,  that  he 
has  reeniorcecl  b\-  scientific  data  some  very  important  doctrine- 
as  loner  held,  but  acted  upon  too  little.  The 


THE    YOUNG   PEOPLE   AND    THE    CHURCH.  247 

chief  value  of  his  work  is  in  the  gathering  and  scientific  presenta-  ATKINS. 
tion  of  a  large  amount  of  data  to  show  that  the  period  of  childhood 
and  early  youth  is  preeminently  the  period  of  becoming  religious, 
and  the  discovery  of  the  physiological  and  psychological  condi- 
tions, which  it  is  necessary  to  know  in  order  to  the  most  suc- 
cessful work  in  securing  that  end.  When  parents  and  religious 
teachers  have  been  led  to  see  by  such  scientific  proofs  that  a  cer- 
tain and  effective  religious  life  depends  as  much  upon  an  early 
training  for  it  as  the  highest  skill  in  handicraft  does  upon  a  child- 
hood apprenticeship  and  for  the  same  reasons,  they  will  not,  they 
cannot  but  be  moved  to  a  larger  concern  for  the  early  and  compe- 
tent religious  training  of  the  children  and  youth  committed  to 
them. 

Following  the  Sunday  school  and  its  general  effects  already 
alluded  to  came  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
Christian  Endeavor  Society,  Young  People's  Union,  Epwortb 
League,  and  the  various  special  Church  societies  for  the  deve'l-  Youncr  people's 
opment  and  expression  of  the  young  life  of  the  Church.  This  societies, 
progress  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century  just  closed  was  truly 
great  not  only  in  its  breadth  of  range  and  its  numerical  exhibits, 
but  in  the  preparation  of  a  host  of  gifted  and  cultivated  young 
leaders  who  stand  in  the  dawn  light  of  the  twentieth  century, 
ready  to  enter  the  larger  fields  of  opportunity  which  the  new 
times  have  brought. 

But  we  must  not  at  this  point  make  the  mistake  of  assuming 
that  we  have  attained.  All  that  has  been  clone  hitherto  in  thi.- 
way  amounts  to  little  more  than  an  enlistment  of  the  hosts.  The 
larger  work  of  training  them  for  the  strenuous  campaigns  which 
this  country  shall  see  still  lies  before  us.  This  conclusion  wii! 
force  itself  upon  us  if  we  but  glance  at  the  magnitude  and  com- 
plexity of  the  task  which  presents  itself  to  the  faith  and  resources 
of  the  Church. 

It  will  probably  be  granted  without  controversy  that  under  the 
orders  of  Christ  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  chief 
impulse  of  the  Church  is  the  missionary  impulse.  It  follows  that 
the  normal  condition  of  the  Church  is  one  of  supreme  missionary 
activity.  Over  against  this  ideal  stands  the  fact  that  within  our 
own  communion  there  exists  a  general  ~^l  •  <~.t  p^pthv.  p.p,-1  \ve 
are  not  below  the  average  of  Protestant  Christians.  Our  con- 
tribution- and  other  forms  of  activity  are  mere  svm.Dtorns  of  a 


248  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

ATKINS.  i_jfe  which  waits  to  be  led  forth  into  a  robust  and  triumphant  de- 

velopment. The  accomplishment  of  this  will  require  a  prolonged 
and  painstaking  process  of  education ;  a  process  which,  while  it 
shall  be  addressed  to  all  stages  of  life  among-  us,  must  be  chiefly 
aimed  at  the  childhood  and  youth  of  the  Church,  in  whom  it  is 
possible  to  produce  an  ideal  in  harmony  with  the  demands  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Thus  the  first  work  which  claims  our  atten- 
tion is  one  of  inward  transformation,  the  creation  of  a  new  ideal 
as  to  our  part  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

The  magnitude  of  the  work  on  the  objective  side  is  immense. 
It  contemplates  nothing  less  than  the  regeneration  of  Christen- 
dom and  the  evangelization  of  the  pagan  world. 

Constant  regeneration  is  the  order  of  progress  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  New  ideals,  new  issues,  and  new  methods  are  the  nec- 
essary outflow  of  new  hearts.  Whoever  accepts  Christ's  doc- 
trine of  individualism  and  dares  to  rest  his  own  progress  or  that 
of  the  Church  on  it  makes  a  fatal  mistake.  The  man  is  first,  it 
is  true ;  but  the  family,  the  community,  the  nation,  the  world  fol- 
low in  an  order  as  natural  in  the  spiritual  world  as  that  which  ob- 
tains in  the  physical.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  Church  of 
the  future  is  to  succeed  or  fail  in  proportion  as  it  shall  meet  the 
demands  of  human  life  in  all  these  relations.  A  Church  which 
cannot  or  will  not  in  the  home  field  measure  up  to  the  sociological 
problems  born  of  the  new  life  which  the  gospel  has  inspired  in 
At  home  as  man  will  have  but  little  business  abroad  and  but  little  power  to 
wen  as  abroad.  gO  Qur  age  is  thronged  with  problems  of  that  nature.  The 
field  of  what  are  called  home  missions  is  larger  now  than  the 
whole  field  was  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  some  of  the  problems 
upon  which  the  Church  has  hitherto  merely  looked  askance  and 
"passed  by  on  the  other  side"  will  hereafter  have  to  be  grappled 
with  with  all  the  power  and  resources  at  command,  and  this  in 
no  spasmodic  way,  however  Herculean,  'out  with  the  same  spirit 
of  patience  and  long-suffering  which  has  characterized  our  work 
in  the  foreign  fields. 

Among  these  home  problems  are  :  (i)  the  race  problem  :  (2)  t!~v 

multi-race-  problem,  and  (3)  the  pn>b!cm  of  the  industrial  classes. 

I.  The  race  problem  has  to  do  with  the  man  among  us  whom 

Three  prob-        Bishop    Ilaygood    very    trulv    and    forcibly    denominated    "our 

lercs*  brother  in  black."     Until  recently  the  negro  has  been  separated 

from  us  by  chasms  of  tradition  and  politics  which  could  not  be 


THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE   AND    THE    CHURCH.  249 

bridged.  But  now  these  barriers  are  being  so  far  removed  that  ATKINS- 
the  burden  of  the  negro  regeneration  is  coming  to  rest  almost 
wholly  upon  the  white  people  of  the  South.  It  has  providentially 
come  about  that  the  Southern  white  man,  who  has  ever  been  the 
negro's  best  friend,  is  now  and  henceforth  his  only  friend  in  any 
sense  which  embraces  all  his  interests  as  a  race.  The  coming  to 
the  foefront  just  at  this  juncture  of  a  few  leaders  of  that  race 
whose  views  are  thoroughly  sane  and  whose  methods  are  practi- 
cal is  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  for  all  concerned,  one  never 
before  presented,  and  which,  if  it  should  pass  away  unimproved, 
may  not  come  again.  I  refer  especially  to  Booker  T.  Wash- 
ington and  his  coadjutors  and  the  industrio-educational  plans 
for  which  they  stand ;  plans  which  look  to  the  proper  place- 
ment of  the  negro  in  the  civilization  of  the  future.  No  race  has 
ever  before  occupied  a  place  of  as  severe  temptation  to  the  mos:  The  negro, 
destructive  sins  as  that  into  which  the  American  negroes  have 
been  forced.  And  while  I  do  not  by  far  agree  with  the  wholesale 
indictment  made  against  them  by  one  of  their  own  race  in  a  re- 
cent book,  the  situation  is  indeed  deplorable, and  extrication  from 
it  is  impossible  without  the  organized,  patient,  persistent  help  of 
the  higher  race.  I  venture  to  forecast  that  ere  long  the  generous 
Southern  people  will  inaugurate  some  plan  of  work  by  which  the 
full  strength  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  conscience  and  will  shall  be 
placed;  under  this  mired  wheel  of  our  civilization.  The  spirit  of 
William  Capers  will  rise  again  under  new  forms  of  organization 
and  command  a  following  even  larger  and  more  efficient  than  that 
winch  distinguished  the  records  of  our  communion  in  the  days 
when  this  new  man  in  our  civic  order  was  a  slave. 

2.  The  multi-race  problem  has  to  do  with  the  evangelization  of 
the  pagans  who  are  settling  on  our  shores  from  those  lands  to 
which  we  are  sending  the  gospel.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  if  these 
are  properly  ministered  to  they  will  become  the  most  available 

<^f  all  allies  in  the  Christianization  of  their  •  >wn  lands.     But  if  ai- 

,    .,         .   .     .        ,  The 

lowed  to  segregate  themselves  and  nourish  in  their  own  pagan  immigrant 

order  in  the  midst  of  our  institutions,  they  will  constitute  one  of 
the  most  dangerous  home  elements  r.n>l  one  of  the  most  formi- 
dable barriers  to  the  conquest  of  the  lands  from  which  thev  come. 

element  have  established 


250 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  industrial 
population. 


The  field  is 
the  world. 


complex  of  all.  The  region  in  which  our  home  work  lies  is  des- 
tined to  a  fabulous  wealth.  The  consequent  populations  will  be 
enormous.  The  interoceanic  canal  belongs  by  the  scheme  of 
nature  to  the  inevitable,  and  when  it  comes  it  will  bring  to  our 
Southern  coasts  more  than  one  Castle  Garden  to  tax  our  pa- 
tience and  our  powers  of  assimilation.  The  problems  which  have 
burdened  the  statesmanship  of  other  regions  will  soon  be  ours. 
The  management  of  the  factory  populations  alone  will  call  for  va;-t 
resources  of  wisdom  and  work.  A  man  of  high  position  in  tech- 
nological training  recently  gave  forth  an  estimate  showing  that 
the  cotton  crop  of  a  single  Southern  State  last  year  when  put 
through  its  factories  for  coarser  fabrics  brought  into  that  State 
$28,000,000,  and  that  same  yield,  if  transmuted  into  the  finest 
fabrics,  would  have  brought  in  $800,000,000.  These  astounding 
figures  were  made  the  basis  of  an  argument  in  favor  of  a  tech- 
nological training  necessary  in  order  to  a  movement  upward  to- 
ward the  finer  fabrics.  With  such  figures  to  indicate  the  activity 
called  for  in  the  realm  of  material  development,  how  vastly  lar- 
ger than  anything  now  known  among  us  must  be  the  activity  of 
the  Church  in  ministering  to  the  spiritual  life  of  these  coming 
populations  ! 

And  bevond  these  home  interests  lies  the  work  of  evangelizing 

o  o 

the  pagan  world,  now  embracing  half  the  population  of  the  globe. 
This  vcrv  cursorv  statement   of  what  is   before  the   Church 


work  for  which  we  are  to  equip  the  generation  of  young  people 
under  our  hand. 

It  would  seem  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  a  work  of  such 
delicacy,  complexity,  and  extent  cannot  be  accomplished  by  a 
desultory  movement,  nor  even  by  the  best  methods  in  the  hands 
of  a  horde  of  unskilled  workmen.  It  will  require  all  the  forces  of 
the  Church,  under  the  best  conditions  of  discipline,  and  animated 
by  the  highest  faith  and  enthusiasm.  To  obtain  this  holy  con- 
.••>iracy  will  require  a  long-continued  training.  It  implies  the 
making  of  a  generation  to  order,  one  with  new  ideals  and  new 
habits.  For  doing  this  Providence  furnishes  the  opportunity. 
It  is  an  awful  but  in  some  senses  a  glorious  fact  that  in  the  order 
of  nature  the  world  is  swept  clean  of  its  population  on  an  aver- 
of  three  times  in  each  century,  so  that  everv  thirty-five  years 
there  is  a  new  race  in  the  cradle  to  be  evangelized  and  a  new  race 


THE   YOUNG    PEOPLE   AND    THE    CHURCH.  251 

of  evangelizers  in  the  cradle.    Herein  lies  the  hope  of  the  world  in   ATKINS- 
both  its  hemispheres,  that  which  lives  in  the  light  of  the  gospel,  Skilled  W0]k. 
and  that  which  lies  dead  under  the  darkness  of  heathenism.  men  needed. 

The  first  thing  demanded  by  the  situation  then  is  that  the 
Church,  having  fully  grasped  the  idea  that  the  work  committed 
to  it  cannot  be  accomplished  otherwise  than  by  a  generation  of 
thoroughly  trained  workmen,  shall  produce  and  operate  a  proper 
system  of  religious  education. 

The  chief  thing  to  be  taught,  of  course,  is  a  thorough  and  vital 
knowledge  of  the  word  of  God.  This  is  the  suic  qua  non  to  a 
golden  age  of  Christian  power  and  progress.  The  revival  power 
of  Protestant  Christianity,  which  is  the  hope  of  Christendom, 
rests  upon  it ;  and  the  inspiration  necessary  for  the  conquest  of 
the  pagan  world  can  certainly  come  from  no  other  source.  This 
knowledge  must  not  be  merely  theoretic  or  theological,  however 
extensive  it  may  be;  nor  merely  literary,  however  brilliant  and 
critical  it  may  be.  The  consensus  of  enlightened  mankind  is  thai; 
the  Bible  is  the  crown  of  the  world's  literature,  the  source  of  its 
law,  the  sea  of  its  ethics,  the  field  of  its  finest  art,  and  the  inspira-  The  Bible  to : 
tion  of  its  noblest  activities.  And  this  judgment  is  correct.  A  taught  f-rst. 
proper  appreciation  of  the  Book  in  any  and  all  of  these  phases  is 
a  source  of  ennobling  joy  to  the  devout  student.  But  it  might  be 
known  and  enjoyed  in  all  these  aspects  without  accomplishing 
its  divine  intent.  A  man  may  be  enraptured  by  the  study  of  the 
Bible  as  mere  literature,  and  at  the  same  time  be  so  spiritually 
deaf  as  to  hear  no  calls  of  God  to  a  life  of  devotion,  and  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  neighbor  who  agonizes  at 
his  side. 

The  Bible,  whatever  else  it  may  be,  is  preeminently  the  science 
of  righteousness,  which  is  in  its  last  analysis  the  science  of  hu- 
man salvation  from  sin  and  the  ills  which   spring  from  it.     T< . 
teach  it  as   such   and   by  methods  as   truly   scientific   as  those 
applied  to  other  forms  of  learning  is  the  plain  duty  of  the  family 
and  the  Church.     This  will  require  a  greater  outlay  of  labor  tha- 
the  desultory  method  so  long  in  vogue,  but  I  rejoice  to  believ.: 
that  the  Church  is  rapidly  adjusting  into  a  readiness  to  take  the    „  ..  ..  .,^..a 
pains  in  order  to  obtain  the   results.     Systematized  knowledge    - 
from  an  infallible  source  on  all  the  problems  of  human  life  is  what 
the  world  needs.     This  truth  the  Bible  alone  contains,  and  while 
:he  work  of  ^vstematizlng  and  teachinir  this  truth  in  an  orderlv 


252  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

way  is  not  an  easy  one,  it  is  altogether  possible  to  the  home  and 
to  the  Church.  All  Scripture  given  by  inspiration  of  God  is  profit- 
able for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  God's  man  may  be 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work  in  this  world.  This 
view  of  the  Bible  prevents  it  from  being  in  any  sense  a  dead 
book — a  mere  relic  to  be  reverenced — and  makes  it  a  fountain  of 
living  waters,  a  granary  of  limitless  supplies,  an  armory  of  fault- 
less equipments,  and  a  storehouse  of  implements  for  the  hus- 
bandry of  God. 

In  order  to  such  a  teaching  of  the  word  of  God  the  Church 
must  furnish  a  higher  order  of  teachers.  First,  the  teaching 
preacher,  who  shall  be  the  head  of  an  institute  of  sacred  knowl- 
edge. There  are  now  many  such  men  who  are  not  only  holding 
communities  from  relapse,  but  leading  a  decided  advance.  But 
there  ought  to  be  one  in  every  charge.  Secondly,  teachers  in  the 
Sunday  school,  who  shall  be  thoroughly  prepared  for  a  great  re- 
The  preachers  iigious  life  work  on  this  line.  It  is  time  for  the  haphazard  Sunday 

and  teachers  of   scnool  teacher  to  pass  awav  forever.     And  thirdlv,  teaching  par- 
the 'future.  .  .  „...'.         .... 

ents.  who  will  ensnrme  the  trutns  01  the  Bible  in  ah  the  best 

memories  of  family  life,  by  the  constant  use  of  it  in  the  home,  and 
by  at  least  superintending  the  study  of  it  as  prescribed  by  the 
Church. 

Along  with  this  systematic  general  instruction  in  Bible  truth 
there  should  come  the  inculcation  of  the  missionary  idea  as  re- 
vealed in  the  character  and  teachings  of  Christ.  General  infor- 
mation is  not  sufficient :  there  needs  to  be  specific  indoctrination 
accompanied  by  such  personal  contributions  as  will  fix  the  cause 
of  missions  in  the  thought  and  affections  of  the  growing  child. 
The  conception  of  the  duty  must  become  ingrained  so  as  never 
to  be  lost.  Men  need  to  be  taught  that  this  great  conception 
rightly  imparted  has  in  it.  apart  from  its  direct  products  to  the 
cause  of  missions,  an  untold  richness  of  influence  on  the  personal 
life.  The  economic  value  of  this  doctrine  and  habit  is.  indeed, 
implanting  a  milch  larger  than  most  people  imagine.  It  is  easv  to  implant  in 

sentiment.  -  J 

the  young  heart  a  great  and  broad  sentiment — much  broader,  in- 
dee;!. than  the  childishintelligence  is  able  to  measure.  Such  a  sen- 
timent once  planted  in  the  heart  gets  in  due  time  the  progressive 
reenforcement  of  the  ever-enlarging  intelligence.  But  the  rea: 
fort  is  the  heart,  and  a  great  truth  like  that  which  underlies  the 
mission  movement  once  lodged  there,  abide?,  and  under  proper 


THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE    AND    THE    CHURCH.  253 

culture  grows  with  the  growth  of  the  mind.  The  very  essence  of  ATKINS- 
this  doctrine  is  unselfishness — the  exact  opposite  of  that  sin  from 
which  all  the  evils  of  a  sociological  kind  spring.  If  the  true  doc- 
trine of  missions  be  thoroughly  planted  in  the  heart  of  a  child, 
the  child  itself  will  soon  discern  that  it  includes  all  minor  forms 
of  the  unselfish  life.  A  generation  so  furnished  with  the  divine 
conception  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  is  the  only  kind  which  will 
be  found  capable  of  practically  solving  the  social  problems  within 
our  own  civilization.  The  one  class  of  problems  is  clearly  em- 
braced in  the  other,  and  both  alike  demand  what  may  be  called 
the  universal  man.  Whoever  implants  a  broad,  unselfish  senti- 
ment in  the  heart  of  a  child  achieves  an  immortal  work,  and 
makes  a  direct  contribution  to  all  the  ends  of  good  citizenship  in 
this  world.  Whoever  implants  that  broadest  of  all  notions,  Christ  The  broadest 
for  the  world  and  the  world  for  Christ,  makes  it  next  to  impossi-  °f  an  notions, 
ble  for  the  life  of  the  one  receiving  it  to  ever  become  a  dwarfed, 
selfish,  and  sterile  life.  The  highest  work  of  each  generation  is 
to  saturate  the  life  of  its  children  and  youth  with  the  truth  and 
spirit  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but 
to  minister.  His  ideal  of  greatness  must  become  ours  and  be 
imparted  to  our  children.  "Let  him  that  is  greatest  among  yon 
be  the  servant  of  all,"  works  a  vast  contradiction  of  the  present 
order,  in  which  children  are  so  largely  a  leisured  class  of  depend- 
ents, growing  up  into  manhood  with  the  notion  that  success  is  to 
have  money  with  which  to  buy  the  services  of  their  fellow-men. 
A  corrupt  tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit.  A  generation 
reared  with  a  selfish  view  of  life  and  set  in  the  habit  of  self-indul- 
gence throughout  the  period  of  adolescence  cannot  at  maturity 
or  later  suddenly  expand  into  those  large  views  and  heroic  ex- 
pressions of  self-abnegation  which  are  necessary  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Master  of  this  kingdom,  who 
in  the  days  of  his  incarnation  had  not  where  to  lav  his  head,  whose 
business  was  to  go  about  doing  Q'ood,  who  said,  "The  disciple  is 
not  above  his  master,  nor  the  servant  above  his  lord,"  and  "Ye 
are  my  friends  if  ye  do  whatsoever  1  command  you,"  cannot  be  ap- 
peased in  his  suffering  for  a  lost  world  by  the  sumptuous  sym- 
pathy which  the  Church  of  to-day  is  offering  him.  Hitherto  we 
have  not  put  ourselves  to  serious  inconvenience  to  save  the 
world. 

In  relation  to  all  this  work  we  need  to  stress  the  fact  that  the- 


254  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

ATKINS.  present  standards  of  missionary  effort  will  not  do  for  the  Church 

of  the  future.  Our  young  people  must  be  trained  away  from  the 
deadly  prejudices  which  these  standards  have  already  engendered 
in  the  public  estimate  of  the  cause  of  missions.  We  are  not  now 
very  much  in  advance  of  the  per  capita  contributions  which  marked 
the  first  few  years  after  the  close  of  the  civil  war.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  we  have  at  all  advanced  in  liberality — that  is,  in  the 
amount  given  in  proportion  to  numbers  and  resources.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  when  the  war  closed  our  land  was  a  vast 
desolation.  Hundreds  of  millions  had  been  swept  away  by  the 
cost  of  the  war ;  other  hundreds  of  millions  suddenly  vanished  in 
the  manumission  of  the  slaves ;  and  still  more  millions  by  the  re- 
The  former  moval  of  slavery  as  the  commercial  basis  on  which  all  our  mate- 
years  and  their  rjaj  interests  rested,  and  from  which  other  things  took  their  value. 

trials. 

The  chief  residuum  when  the  struggle  ended  was  a  vast  estate  of 
land  overgrown  with  wild  weeds  and  debts.  The  largest  heroism 
of  the  South  was  not  revealed  by  the  battles  in  the  Wilderness 
but  in  battles  with  the  wilderness.  Over  against  this  desolation 
there  stood  chiefly  two  things :  an  indomitable  courage  and  the 
discipline  of  long-continued  want.  The  men  of  that  generation 
had  learned  what  the  men  of  this  generation  are  so  prone  to  for- 
get, that  not  only  does  man  live  by  bread  alone,  but  that  not 
nearly  so  much  bread  is  needed  as  men  commonly  think.  Be- 
ginning at  that  point,  these  men  of  mighty  wills  addressed  them- 
selves to  the  production  of  means  for  rehabilitation  and  for  laying 
the  foundations  of  a  new  and  enduring  civilization.  Their  suc- 
cess was  so  wonderful  that  at  the  end  of  thirty-five  years,  or  the 
average  lifetime  of  a  man,  they  had  about  doubled  the  wealth 
which  their  section  had  when  the  war  began,  and  they  have  turned 
it  as  an  honest  heritage  into  the  hands  of  the  generation  now  com- 
ing upon  the  stage.  Through  all  the  years  of  this  struggle  our 
fathers  sustained  with  liberality  all  forms  of  benevolent  work.  If 
those  who  receive  into  their  hands  this  restored  and  enlarged  es- 
tate shall  be  content  to  do  no  larger  things  for  the  kingdom  of 
A  new  stand-  God  in  their  prosperity  than  their  fathers  did  out  of  toil  and  acl- 
neVday16  versity,  they  will  prove  themselves  the  ignoble  offspring  of  most 
noble  sires.  It  belongs  to  the  Church  of  this  very  hour  to  eradi- 
cate from  the  minds  of  our  young  people  and  to  erase  from  the 
tables  of  our  Mission  Board  the  figures  which,  however  honor- 
able thev  may  have  bec'n  to  a  nast  generation,  are  unfit  to  measure 


THE   YOUNG   PEOPLE    AND    THE    CHURCH.  255 

either  our  prosperity  or  our  love  for  men.     "We  cannot,  we  dare  ATKIN"S- 
not,  we  will  not  accept  in  this  regard  the  standards  of  our  fathers. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  general  religious  work  among  the 
children  and  young  people  of  our  day.  When  we  turn  to  the 
survey  of  their  work  with  institutions  of  learning  and  in  behalf  of 
missions,  the  indications  are  of  the  most  encouraging  kind. 

When  the  last  century  opened  almost  all  the  institutions  of 
learning  within  our  nation  were  under  the  domination  of  a  pat- 
ronizing skepticism,  and  irreligion  abounded  almost  universally 
among  the  youth  of  the  land.  The  whole  subject  of  missions  was 
a  terra  incognita,  and  its  very  shores  had  to  be  discovered  to  even 
the  religious  young  people  after  half  the  century  had  gone,  and 

most  of  what  has  been  achieved  bv  them  belongs  to  the  last  quar-  conditions  in 

.  .      .        1800. 

ter  of  the  century.     Xow  there  is  not  a  high-grade  institution 

within  our  national  bounds  where  religion  is  not  reverenced,  and 
in  which  may  not  be  found,  both  among  the  professors  and  stu- 
dents,manyof  the  most  devout  and  efficient  followers  of  our  Lord. 
Not  only  so,  but  the  spirit  of  missions  has  so  far  entered  many  of 
these  institutions  as  to  have  wrought  a  revolution  in  the  trend  of 
religious  thought.  Xowhere  has  this  spirit  found  a  more  normal 
and  effective  expression  than  among  this  class.  It  has  also  taken 
the  most  vital  turn,  the  direction  of  personal  consecration  to  tlve 
work  in  foreign  fields.  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  is  a 
miracle  of  religious  progress.  It  was  born  of  an  organized  na- 
tional and  international  students'  movement  which  embraces 
nearly  1,500  Christian  -Associations  with  a  membership  of  60.- 
ooo.  The  Volunteer  Movement  itself  has  enrolled  many  thou- 
sands of  educated  volunteers  for  service  in  foreign  fields.  At 
least  2,000  have  already  gone.  \\  hen  this  movement  iirst  began, 
many  thought  that  it  was  the  mere  expression  of  a  youthful  en- 
thusiasm which  would  soon  vanish,  but  there  has  been  no  health- 
ier or  more  solid  movement  in  the  Church  of  modern  times. 
There  are,  moreover,  in  Xorth  America  now  6.000.000  of  organ-  student  Voiun- 
ized  young  people  who  under  right  training  and  leadership  are  teers. 
capable  of  doing  more  in  the  next  half  century  than  has  been  done 
by  the  whole  Church  in  the  last  ten  centuries.  When  we  add  to 
these  the  20.000.000  of  Sunday  school  scholars  who  are  in  the 
plastic  stage,  docile,  generous,  and  willing  to  be  led.  we  begin  to 
have  a  glimpse  of  what  the  Church  of  the  future  will  be  if  only  til- 


2^6 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Go  or  send. 


'  •  The  earth 
bringeth  forth 
of  herself." 


Church  of  the  present  will  do  its  duty  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  the 
love  of  souls. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  modern  missionary  movement  it  re- 
quired all  the  available  sympathy  and  resources  of  the  Church  to 
send  forth  and  sustain  one  man;  then  a  few;  and  at  last  many. 
The  second  step  was  the  sending  and  support  of  a  missionary  by 
the  single  congregation.  This  new  phase  of  the  movement  is 
growing  hopefully,  but  however  general  it  may  become  it  can 
never  meet  either  the  demand  for  workers  or  the  obligation  which 
the  gospel  lays  on  the  believer  who  has  large  means.  There  are 
now  thousands  of  men  upon  each  of  whom  rests  the  obligation  to 
send  out  of  his  own  resources  a  representative  into  the  whitened 
harvest.  In  our  education  of  the  coming  Church  we  need  to  hold 
constantly  before  it  the  obligation  of  the  individual  to  go  or  to 
send  another  in  his  stead.  A  right  discernment  of  this  doctrine  on 
the  part  of  wealthy  believers  would  soon  tax  the  best  statesman- 
ship of  the  Church  in  applying  the  means  which  would  flow  into  its 
treasuries.  We  cannot  but  marvel  perpetually  at  the  foolhardi- 
ness  of  the  man  who  dares  to  die  rich  in  this  day  of  boundless  need 
and  of  opportunity  for  transmuting  the  perishable  things  of  this 
world  into  the  enduring  riches  of  the  world  to  come.  (Luke 
xvi.  9.) 

One  of  the  most  wonderful  analogies  used  by  our  Lord  is  that 
which  makes  the  productive  power  of  the  earth  to  represent  the 
divine  forces  which  insure  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  It  is  also,  in  this  day  of  organizations  and  varied  ma- 
chinery, one  of  the  most  neglected  parables.  We  shall  do  well  if, 
in  connection  with  this  movement,  we  give  it  a  new  regard  and 
rest  our  faith  upon  its  vast  foundations.  "And,"  he  said,  "so  is  the 
kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground ; 
and  should  sleep,  and  rise  night  and  day,  and  the  seed  should 
spring  and  grow  up,  he  knoweth  not  how.  For  the  earth  bring- 
eth forth  fruit  of  herself;  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that 
the  full  corn  in  the  car.  But  when  the  fruit  is  brought  forth, 
immediately  he  puttcth  in  his  sickle, because  the  harvest  is  come." 
(Mark  iv.  26-29.) 

The  parable  of  the  sower  has  to  do  chiefly  with  the  varieties  of 
soil  and  the  relative  products,  and  that  of  the  mustard  seed  with 
the  multiple  power  which  belongs  by  the  law  of  growth  to  the 
truth  of  the  kincrdnm.  But  this  -parable  i?  the  broadest  of  all,  and 


THE  SUNDAY   SCHOOL   SUPERINTENDENT.  257 

easily  furnishes  room  for  the  other  two;  and  yet,  it  is  the  most  ATKINS. 
specific  in  the  exclusion  of  everything  except  the  one  point  which 
it  is  intended  to  set  forth.  It  assumes  the  soil,  the  seed,  the  sow- 
ing, and  all  those  incidents  of  experience  which  belong  to  the  life 
of  the  husbandman  between  the  time  of  sowing  and  the  harvest ; 
but  its  specific  teaching  is  that  the  earth  of  itself  bringeth  forth  the 
seed  from  the  sowing  to  the  harvest.  No  rational  treatment  of 
the  analogy  can,  of  course,  omit  the  usual  conditions  of  soil,  seed, 
and  such  cultivation  as  is  due ;  but,  these  given,  the  harvest  follows 
by  laws  that  are  inevitable.  The  parable  teaches,  therefore,  that 
back  of  all  these  visible  conditions  and  human  contributions  there 
is  the  tireless  push  of  an  infinite  power.  As  silently  and  as  force- 
fully as  the  spirit  of  nature  sends  forth  the  buds  in  springtime  nor  The  work  of 
rests  until  the  wealth  of  autumn  is  poured  into  its  destined  grana-  God. 
ries,  so  noiselessly  and  irresistibly  do  the  vital  forces  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  which  have  their  rise  in  the  nature  of  God,  push  the 
truth  sown  in  youthful  hearts  to  its  destined  end,  the  perfection 
of  manhood  in  the  image  of  Christ.  In  the  scheme  of  nature  not 
only  all  changes  of  season  in  this  world,  but  also  the  silent  influ- 
ences of  all  worlds,  conspire  to  bring  the  harvest  to  perfection ; 
and  so  it  is  in  the  spiritual  realm.  The  usual  incidents  occur; 
men  sleep  and  wake,  generations  live  and  die,  kingdoms  emerge 
and  become  submerged ;  but  all  things  earthly,  reenforced  by  the 
powers  of  the  world,  invisible  and  eternal,  stand  in  the  order  of 
God's  purpose  and  process  to  save  the  world  by  the  truth  as  it  is 
m  Jesus. 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SUPERINTENDENT:  HOW 
HE    MAY    DEEPEN   THE   MISSIONARY   SPIR- 
IT IN  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

MR.  JOHN  R.  PEPPER. 

IN  the  holy  hush  of  these  birth  hours  of  the  century  thoughts 
about  our  God  and  round  globe,  interpretations  of  the  great  com- 
mission and  how  his  truth  shall  girdle  the  globe,  these  birth 
hours  of  missionaries  because  I  verily  believe  missionaries  have 
been  born  since  we  have  been  in  this  place,  I  feel  that  during  the 
13 


258 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


Definition. 


remaining  golden  moments  it  would  be  more  in  consonance  with 
my  own  feelings  to  sit  quietly  before  God  and  have  him  say  what 
he  would  have  me  do  rather  than  say  anything  myself.  This  pro- 
gramme is  built  like  a  pyramid,  and  we  have  been  working  from 
the  top  downward.  To-day's  section  of  it  lays  hold  on  the  founda- 
tion stones  of  the  structure  because  it  deals  with  youth,  the  very 
substratum  of  the  world's  hope.  The  keywords  at  this  Conference 
are  mobilizing  and  energising.  The  whole  resources  of  the  world 
are  to  be  harnessed  and  energized  for  the  world's  conquest.  As 
a  plain  merchant  man  much  more  given  to  the  use  of  the  world's 
arithmetic  than  figures  of  speech,  as  somewhat  of  a  lay  student 
of  the  great  movements  of  God's  Church,  as  superintendent  of 
one  Sunday  school  for  more  than  twenty  years  consecutively,  I  do 
verily  believe  that  the  heathen  nations  can  be  converted  to  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ  in  one  generation  if  the  Church  will  but  rear 
in  faith  a  generation  of  missionaries  to  do  the  work  under  his 
guidance.  And  I  dare  believe  that  the  twentieth  century  Sunday 
school  is  to  become  the  recruiting  station  and  drill  ground  of  this 
aggressive  force  of  God's  Church  of  the  future.  Without  the 
shadow  of  seeming  disparagement  to  the  noble  army  now  in  the 
field,  I  am  profoundly  impressed  with  the  fact  that  we  will  perhaps 
never  have  an  irresistible,  all-conquering  line  of  royal  givers  of 
gold,  silver,  or  selves  until  we  rear  them,  and  the  first  lessons  of 
this  culture  in  real  honest  heart-yearning  for  the  salvation  of  the 
whole  world  must  be  received  in  the  springs  and  sweet  fountains 
of  early  childhood  if  we  would  see  the  largest  yield  therefrom. 

In  the  precious  moments  allotted  to  me  I  desire  to  draw  your 
minds  clearly  to  two  fundamental  thoughts  touching  this  subject 
in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose  contemplated  by 
this  topic : 

I.  Deepening  motives. 

IT.  Deepening  methods. 

The  spiritual  dictionary  definition  of  a  Sunday  school  is  a  soul- 
winning,  soul-building,  soul-impelling  and  propelling  agency. 
Therefore  the  central  figure  and  director,  sometimes  called  super- 
intendent, of  an  institution  like  this  must,  first  of  all,  have  deep 
and  deepening  taproot  convictions  as  to  his  functions  as  a  soul- 
winner  and  educator  of  soul-winners — what  he  has  really  come 
to  such  a  kingdom  for — before  he  can  have  any  right  appreciation 
of  its  responsibilities  and  possibilities.  He  must  have  his  own 
spiritual  sense  deepened  and  intensified,  else  he  can  never  im- 


THE   SUNDAY    SCHOOL    SUPERINTENDENT.  259 

press  others.  He  cannot  give  out  something  that  has  not  been  PBPPEI1- 
born  within;  hence  I  lay  down,  as  antecedent  to  success  in  deep- 
ening the  missionary  spirit  of  the  school,  the  deepening,  intensi- 
fied superintendent.  The  entire  genius  of  a  Sunday  school  pre- 
supposes well-directed  power.  An  organization  without  power 
is  a  dynamo  detached  and  out  of  current  line ;  a  skeleton  without 
sinew,  muscle,  or  flesh ;  a  wheel  without  the  spirit  in  it. 

Without  spiritual  power  the  chief  purpose  of  the  institution  is 
misinterpreted  and  the  working  force  of  the  school  spends  its 
strength  upon  vague  and  intangible  ends.  Worse  still,  the  schol- 
ar becomes  inured  to  lifeless  form,  and  if  not  saved  to  serve  dur- 
ing the  school  life  is  ever  afterwards  more  difficult  to  reach  with 
the  claims  of  the  gospel.  Becoming  familiarwith  holy  things  with- 

J  Spiritual  pow- 

out  yielding  to  them  produces  a  hardening  process,  and  the  lack  er  essential, 
of  a  right  understanding  of  this  great  spiritual  law  may  in  some 
measure  at  least  account  for  the  barrenness  of  spiritual  results 
in  many  of  our  schools.  Therefore  the  inquiry,  "How  the  su- 
perintendent may  deepen  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  Sunday 
school,"  when  translated  into  twentieth  century  gospel  language, 
means,  "How  can  the  same  good  news  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  that  saves  the  heathen  when  earnestly  lived  and  taught  be 
lodged  in  the  hearts  of  the  individual  members  of  the  home 
school  with  such  expulsive  power  that  it  will  force  itself  beyond 
its  own  bounds  and  comprehend  in  its  grasp  the  unsaved  every- 
where in  the  world?"  In  answering  the  inquiry  we  would  say  first 
he  must  be  a  genuine  lover  of  souls.  No  art  of  speech  or  mere 
observance  of  externals  will  reach  the  vital  end  in  view.  The 
missionary  spirit  must  be  begotten  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  gen- 
uine love  for  the  souls  of  men,  without  respect  to  earthly  station 
or  surroundings — a  love  that  looks  beneath  rags  or  purple, 
pauper  or  prince  to  the  soul  for  which  Jesus  Christ  yielded  up  his 
life.  Secondly,  the  superintendent  must  have  a  personal  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  salvation.  He  must  be  a  witness  who  can 
speak  of  that  which  he  absolutely  knows.  "That  which  we  have  Fundamentals, 
seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you,  that  ye  also  may  have  fel- 
lowship with  us."  (i  John  i.  3.)  "We  speak  that  we  do  know, 
and  testify  that  we  have  seen."  (John  iii.  1 1.)  Salvation  must  be 
a  glad,  assured  fact,  like  the  experience  of  the  blind  man :  "One 
thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  Such  ex- 


260 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Deepening 
methods. 


Geographical 
study. 


Letters  from 
the  Held. 


perience  is  positively  necessary  in  impressing  and  leading  others 
into  the  grave  work  of  saving  souls  at  home  and  abroad. 

This  foundation  of  deepening  motives  well  laid,  he  is  now  ready 
for  deepening  methods.  When  the  heart  is  aflame  with  real  love  for 
souls,  methods  are  begotten  in  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  stream 
that  deepens  almost  surely  widens.  We  do  not  love  people  or 
things  we  know  nothing  or  little  about.  My  deliberate  convic- 
tion is  that  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  have  done  so  little  as  a 
Church  and  school  for  missions  heretofore  is  because  we  really 
know  so  little  about  the  work,  notwithstanding  the  labors  of  an 
army  of  workers  who  have  been  busy  furnishing  continuous  in- 
formation about  this  great  work.  We  may  just  as  well  confess 
to  each  other  now  a  fact  which  the  Saviour  has  known  and  grieved 
over  for  centuries — viz., the  most  of  us  have  literally  been  playing 
at  the  work,  and  have  not  had  our  deepest  heart-throbs  involved 
in  it.  May  a  merciful  God  forgive  us  for  our  past  indifference ! 

When  the  real  love  for  the  work  is  intensified  and  intelligence 
enlarged  the  superintendent  will  then  give  special  emphasis  to 
missions. 

1.  By  setting  apart  through  the  action  of  officers  and  teachers 
a  regular  time,  one  Sunday  in  the  month  or  otherwise,  together 
with  Rally  Day,  for  the  regular  and  hearty  consideration  of  mis- 
sion work,  giving  definite  data  and  specific  information  touching 
particular  fields  or  all  of  the  territory  covered  by  our  mission 
work.     This  may  be  done  by  having  some  one  give  an  informal 
talk   on   the   subject ;   again,   by   exhibiting  diagrams   or  maps 
showing  how  to  reach  the  different  fields ;  how  many  stations  in 
each  country ;  how  located,  and  the  names  of  the  missionaries 
occupying  each  place ;  the  history  of  our  educational,  medical, 
and  other  collateral  work  in  connection  with  each  mission,  with 
a  picture  gallery  showing  each  station  and  missionary,  if  possible 
arranged  in  the  order  of  establishment,  developing  thereby  the 
steady  progress  of  our  work ;  also  distributing  leaflets  and  other 
literature  on  the  special  field  or  fields.    This  is  the  day  of  leaflets, 
and  we  need  them  in  our  mission  work  as  thick  as  the  leaves  in 
Vallotnbrosa,  that  little  by  little  we  may  drive  home  the  truth  to 
remain  forever,  and  these  leaflets  reach  the  home  as  no  spoken 
words  can. 

2.  At  another  time  read  some  of  the  thrilling  letters  of  our 
missionaries  in  the  field,  showing,  as  they  so  often  do,  the  won- 
derful workings  of  God's  providential  and  mighty  hand.     Also 


THE   SUNDAY    SCHOOL   SUPERINTENDENT.  26l 

have  short  school  drills  on  all  of  the  foregoing  information  from  IKPPKR- 
time  to  time.     Such  information  may  be  made  very  effective  in 
the  deepening  of  the  missionary  spirit,  if  given  briefly,  clearly, 
and  with  the  earnestness  that  should  characterize  such  work. 

3.  By  having  regular  native  correspondents  in  some  one  or 
more  fields  from  whom  letters  are  received  and  read  to  the 
school  at  intervals,  and  from  whom  special  objects  are  received 
and  shown  in  connection  with  data  concerning  that  particular 
work,  becoming  a  permanent  addition  to  the  missionary  mu- 
seum and  picture  gallery  of  the  school. 

4.  By  having  the  preacher  once  in  a  while  at  least  present  the 
claims  of  our  missions  from  his  standpoint  as  pastor,  during  the 
regular  session  of  the  school,  either  at  the  opening  or  close,  and  The  pastor's 
especially  press  the  claims  of  the  gospel  upon  the  unsaved,  in  or- 
der that  their  lives  may  be  devoted  to  the  saving  of  the  nations 

of  the  earth  who  will  probably  not  be  saved  except  by  such 
agency. 

5.  By  training  the  school  to  a  large  and  liberal  giving  purely 
for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  the  whole  world,  giving  that 

will  reach  the  home  of  the  scholars.     We  must  catch  a  world-   christiike  gi 
wide  view  of  the  sweep  of  God's  grace  to  every  nation ;  we  must  ias- 
cultivate  the  exquisite  luxury  of  enlarged  giving  under  the  tui- 
tion of  Him  who  gave  all  that  he  might  make  possible  the  sal- 
vation of  every  creature  under  the  heavens,  and  has  left  us  as  his 
representatives  to  finish  the  work  by  the  direction  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  shall  guide  us  into  all  truth  and  methods. 

6.  By  repeated,   earnest,  and   special   prayer  of  officers   and 
teachers  that  the  Holy  Ghost  may  separate  from  time  to  time 
some  of  our  own  scholars,  even  from  our  own  homes,  to  go  as 
missionaries.     If  we  really  believe  that  God  hears  and  answers 
right-conditioned  praver,  we  must  believe  that  he  will  hear  us. 

Intercessory 

How  seldom  have  we  heard  heart-travailing  prayer  for  the  sepa-   prayer. 
rating  Spirit  of  God  to  come  upon  us  during  the  past  several  dec- 
ades !     Oh,  we  must  have  more  of  this  kind  of  praying  in  our 
Churches  and  schools  ! 

/.  By  keeping  the  obligation  to  go  constantly  before  the 
young,  in  order  that  the  thought  may  bed  itself  in  their  minds 
and  hearts  ready  for  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  when  he 

1     11  if  1    i        T  -i  wh°  will  go? 

shall  sav.     do.  and  lo,  I  am  with  YOU  alwav. 


262  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Finally,  nothing  would  So  quicken  and  deepen  the  missionary 
spirit  in  the  school  as  a  definite  call  ever  and  anon  to  some  mem- 
ber of  the  school  to  go  into  the  whitening  missionary  hiarvest  field. 
Nothing  Would  more  surely  quicken  the  larger  pulse  of  love  of 
the  Church  as  the  volunteer  service  of  one  immediately  from  the 
ranks  of  the  school.  Could  the  Lord  God  more  highly  honor  any 
school  than  to  make  its  work  fruit  in  the  self-sacrificing  serv- 
ice for  life  of  some  or  many  of  its  members?  The  failure  to  have 
such  calls  may  well  cause  us  deep  concern  and  examination  as  to 
whose  image  and  superscription  is  on  the  coin  of  our  service. 

My  prayer :  May  the  great  God  and  Father  who  called  Samuel 
even  before  he  knew  the  Lord's  voice  begin  at  once  to  call  large 
numbers  of  our  boys  and  girls  to  the  high  vocation  of  ambassa- 
dors for  him  even  before  they  fully  understand  the  entire  terms  of 
the  commission!  For  such  blessed  results  may  we  never  grow 
weary  praying,  laboring,  and  looking !  and  may  the  great  Master 
Workman  continually  keep  a  band  in  training  for  himself  in  all 
our  schools ! 


THE  HIGHEST  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  THE  EPWORTH 

LEAGUE. 

REV.    H.    M.    DU    BOSE. 

THE  most  pleasant  things  in  life  may  be  also  embarrassing,  and 
we  have  all  had  occasion  to  realize  that  that  embarrassment  in- 
creases in  proportion  to  the  advance  in  pleasantness  of  the  things 
indulged.  I  have  some  sort  of  pleasure  in  introducing  myself  to 
this  audience,  but  the  pleasure  is  accompanied  by  a  degree  of 
embarrassment.  The  subject  which  I  am  permitted  to  discuss 
for  a  few  minutes  relates  to  that  particular  department  of  our 
young  people's  work  with  which  I,  together  with  the  rest  of  you, 
am  charged  ;  and  the  particular  form  in  which  the  subject  appears 
on  the  programme  (I  announce  it  for  the  benefit  of  those  of  you 
who  have  not  seen  it)  is  "The  Highest  Achievement  of  the  Ep- 
worth  League." 

An  achievement  is  the  complete  and  successful  rounding  of 
an  endeavor,  a  purpose,  or  plan.  The  Epworth  League,  as  an 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF   THE    EPWORTH    LEAGUE.  263 

organization,  is  altogether  too  young,  and  its  years  of  service  DU  BOS»- 
and  active  experience  are  altogether  too  few,  to  have  afforded 
an  opportunity  of  successfully  rounding  and  completing  any  of 
its  great  plans  and  endeavors.  But  marvelous  years  these  have 
been,  years  resonant  with  the  music  of  an  ongoing  host,  and  not 
few  have  been  the  successful  undertakings  of  the  League,  not 
trifling  the  work  which  it  has  accomplished.  So  I  believe,  if  I 
mention  some  of  the  things  that  have  been  emphasized  and  well 
wrought,  and  that  we  have  sighted  with  a  clear  vision  and  ap- 
prehended with  a  prophetic  eye — if  I  name  these  as  the  highest 
achievements  of  the  Epworth  League,  I  shall  fulfill  before  you  the 
measure  of  my  present  duty. 

I  have,  therefore,  the  privilege  of  calling  attention  to  this,  first, 
that  the  League  has  challenged  the  attention  of  the  Church  re-  may  work 
garding  the  rights  of  the  young  men  and  the  young  women  to  be 
employed  in  service.  That  right  was  not  always  accorded  them. 
Xot  by  any  direct  or  pragmatic  refusal  was  it  kept  from  them, 
but  by  a  sort  of  tradition,  a  sort  of  default  in  the  history  of  Church 
life  and  Church  plans.  It  was  once  thought  that  the  lads  might 
sow  their  wild  oats,  and  the  lasses  might  have  their  days  of  trifling 
and  idleness  ;  and  then,  after  so  long  a  time,  with  tears  and  contri- 
tion, and,  alas !  in  some  cases,  with  the  mark  of  Cain  on  their 
brows, they  might  return  with  much  sorrow  and  much  \vailing  and 
much  penance-doing  through  the  door  but  slightly  left  ajar.  This 
movement,  I  say,  has  challenged  the  great  mother  eye  and  the 
great  mother  heart  of  the  Church  regarding  these  her  children, 
who  are  waxing  in  strength  and  coming  to  years,  and  their  right 
to  be  employed  and  to  be  used,  from  the  very  nursery,  from  the 
pleasant  walks  of  childhood,  and  from  youthhood,  in  those  serv- 
ices well  adapted  to  their  hands  and  to  the  affectionate  outgoings 
of  their  hearts,  and  altogether  qualified  to  shape  them  more  per- 
fectly into  the  image  of  which  the  great  Master  has  said:  "Of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  This  is  the  Church-wide  chal- 
lenge, which  many  of  the  princes  have  been  slow  to  heed  in  this 
form.  But  by  degrees  the  boys  and  the  girl?  and  the  young  men 
and  the  young  women,  who  constitute  the  body  of  the  League, 
are  having  their  opportunity,  insomuch  that  one  of  our  bishops 
has  affirmed  that  the  Epworth  League  is  now  another  name  for 
opportunity.  But  it  is  not  only  an  opportunity  to  the  lads  and 
the  lasses  and  the  young  men  and  young  women  nearing  the 
estate  of  manhood  and  womanhood  ;  it  is  not  only  an  opportunity 


264 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  League  a 
school  of  dis- 
cipline. 


It  unites  for 
Bible  study. 


to  them  to  serve,  but  it  is  an  opportunity  to  the  Church  to  get 
services  withal.  She  will  have  not  only  the  love  and  the  loyalty 
of  her  children,  but  she  will  have  their  substance  and  their  serv- 
ices in  those  most  fruitful  years  and  hopeful  years  that  have 
hitherto  gone  to  waste  or  grown  up  with  the  brambles  of  the 
wilderness. 

The  Epworth  League,  in  one  of  its  highest  achievements,  real- 
izes the  possibility  of  bringing  into  unity  this  vast  body  of  Meth- 
odist youthhood,  and  disciplining  and  molding  it  for  service. 
There  is  no  key  or  chord  in  the  organ  or  the  pianoforte  that  is 
absolute  music  within  itself,  yet  when  you  take  the  community 
of  the  octavo  you  have  all  the  possibilities  of  melody,  so  much  so 
that  the  scale,  simple  in  itself,  which  may  be  counted  on  the  fin- 
gers of  two  hands  and  have  somewhat  to  spare,  is  susceptible 
of  being  blended  into  an  infinite  number  of  harmonies.  The  great 
Mendelssohn  said  that  he  had  calculated  the  musical  scale  until 
he  had  reached  five  hundred  and  fifty  trillions  of  combinations, 
and  had  then  to  stop  for  lack  of  arithmetic.  So  in  a  single  life 
of  girlhood  or  boyhood,  of  young  manhood  or  young  woman- 
hood, there  will  not  be  absolute  music  or  completeness,  it  may 
be,  of  the  ideas  of  experience  and  service ;  but  bringing  the  mul- 
titudes of  these  together,  the  complexity  and  the  diversity  of  all 
may  be  made  into  the  harmony  of  a  grand  song  that  is  praise  to 
God  and  glory  in  a  continuous  service. 

This,  too,  is  an  achievement  of  the  Epworth  League :  It 
has  shown  the  possibility  of  uniting  the  young  men  and  the 
young  women,  not  only  of  a  great  connection  but  of  a  sisterhood 
of  connections,  bringing  an  international  Methodism  into  har- 
mony, and  by  degrees  an  international  fellowship  of  Christian 
young  people,  in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  in  preparation 
and  discipline  for  work.  That  is  a  distinct  achievement  of  the 
Epworth  League.  Another  fact  which  it  has  largely  realized  is 
this :  It  raises  the  standard  of  Church  membership,  not  only 
in  the  matter  of  service  and  of  ministry,  but  in  the  matter  of  ex- 
perience. The  prayer  meeting  stands  at  the  threshold  of  the 
Epworth  League — it  is  nothing  without  its  devotional  service. 
The  heart  that  learns  to  pray,  the  life  that  is  taught  to  pray,  be- 
come strong  in  the  learning.  No  life  can  be  strong  or  sweet  or 
find  joy  for  itself  or  bring  ministry  to  others  that  does  not  kno\v 
the  value  of  prayer;  and  the  first  object  of  the  League,  and  the 
one  which  it  continuously  emphasizes,  is  the  necessity  of  the 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF   THE    EPWORTH    LEAGUE.  265 

prayer  meeting.  These  Epworth  Leaguers  are  taught  to  pray.  D 
It  is  the  continuation  of  that  inspiration  born  in  the  nursery  at 
the  mother's  knee,  that  breathes  through  those  deathless  words, 
"Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  or  "Now  I  lay  me  down  to 
sleep,  I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep,"  or  in  those  others, 
"Jesus,  tender  Shepherd,  bless  the  little  lamb  to-night" — a  con- 
tinuation without  break  through  the  days  of  childhood  and  boy- 
hood and  girlhood  and  young  manhood  and  young  womanhood 
and  on  to  a  ripe  and  sanctified  old  age  of  the  simple  spirit  of 
the  nursery  faith.  It  is  the  meaning  of  the  Epworth  League  thus 
to  bridge  the  dark  desert  ways  with  the  span  of  strength  and  en- 
ticement, over  which  the  shining  feet  of  the  children  of  the  king- 
dom may  pass. 

We  get  genuine  experience  in  the  Epworth  League.  The  tes- 
timony meeting  of  the  League  is  the  survival  of  the  much  lament- 
ed Methodist  class  meeting,  of  which  many  a  time  we  have  said 
with  wailing  and  tearfulness :  "We  shall  not  see  the  like  of  it 
again."  But  we  have  seen  the  like  of  it ;  and  there  comes  a  suc- 
cessor of  that  old-time  meeting  in  the  testimony  meeting  of 
the  younger  generation  that  has  inherited  its  pathos,  its  power, 
its  earnestness,  and  its  directness ;  and  one  which  is  free  from 
those  limitations  that  naturally  belonged  to  the  genesis  days  of 
our  spiritual  work.  That  is  an  achievement  of  the  Epworth  meeting 
League.  You  will  not  forget  that.  Those  of  my  brethren  of 
the  pastorate  who  may  have  grown  lukewarm  in  their  support 
of  the  League,  who  may  have  opposed  it,  who  may  have  thought 
it  the  fifth  wheel,  and  all  manner  of  things  useless,  will  remember 
that  their  opposition  and  lukewarmness  concerning  the  Epworth 
League  grow  out  of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  what  it  is  as  a 
spiritual  device.  I  say  to  my  brother  pastors  :  "If  you  want  spir- 
itual young  men  and  young  women  in  your  congregation,  take 
our  League  plan,  which  is  the  plan  of  the  apostolic  Church,  the 
Church  of  the  first  century,  that  begins  with  the  Church  in  the 
household.  Take  this  plan  of  the  Epworth  League  and  work  it 
out,  and  you  will  have  spiritual  young  men  and  young  women 
to  your  help.  Give  them  something  to  do.  Teach  them  to  pray 
and  to  testify,  and  they  will  have  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  and  will 
develop  genuine  experiences,  free  from  cant,  free  from  cranki- 
ness, free  from  those  perverted  and  misconceived  interpretations 
of  doctrine  that  constitute  so  great  a  peril  to  the  Church  in  these 
later  days.  Men  who  are  converted  and  brought  up  from  child- 


266 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


It  refines  so- 
cial life. 


Development  of 
the  missionary 
idea. 


hood  never  disturb  the  Church.  It  is  the  men  who  are  con- 
verted after  they  are  forty  years  of  age  that  are  the  sources  of 
dissension  and  trouble  to  Israel." 

The  Epworth  League  introduces  a  sanctifying  element  into  the 
literary  and  social  life  of  young  Methodism — and  how  much  that 
is  needed !  God,  who  gives  to  our  childhood  a  quick,  perceiving 
eye,  who  gives  the  nervous  organism,  who  gives  the  retina  be- 
hind the  eye,  who  gives  the  fine  aesthetic  sense,  and  who  gives 
that  wondering  spirit  of  our  fancies  and  imaginations,  fully  in- 
tended to  meet  and  satisfy  all  these  within  legitimate  bounds ; 
and  if  we  seek  to  circumscribe  or  limit  these  native  emotions  and 
social  instincts  of  the  young  life,  we  dwarf  it  a<nd  estrange  it 
from  us. 

The  new  movement  has  emphasized  the  possibility  of  bringing 
altogether  pleasing  and  satisfying  conditions  to  the  literary  cir- 
cles of  our  religious  youth.  I  had  a  letter  from  one  of  my  fellow- 
workers,  saying:  "The  League  has  been  a  social  blessing. 
Before  it  came  we  had  'Sister  Phoebe/  'Skip  to  My  Lou,'  and  all 
sorts  of  things  that  fought  against  the  spirit  of  piety,  but  now 
the  Epworth  League  takes  the  place  of  all  these.  It  has  brought 
our  young  people  into  unity.  We  are  able  to  keep  up  our  prayer 
meetings  and  literary  circles,  and  we  have  all  the  literary  and 
social  fellowship  that  we  need." 

The  Epworth  League  has  emphasized  the  missionary  idea  in 
the  Church,  and  has  precipitated  upon  it  a  powerful  and  ramifying 
inspiration,  so  much  so  that  for  myself  and  my  fellow- workers, 
and  for  this  great  company  of  consecrated  young  men  and  women, 
I  am  minded  to  claim,  in  large  part,  the  credit  for  the  spirit  of 
this  great  gathering,  the  spirit  that  pervades  our  great  Meth- 
odism. The  young  men  and  women  in  the  hills  of  Holston,  along 
the  wire  grass  reaches  of  Georgia,  the  vast  prairies  of  Texas,  the 
great  darkling  woodlands  of  Arkansas,  and  the  mesas  of  Mis- 
souri, and  all  over  this  great  country,  have  contributed  an  inspi- 
ration to  the  missionary  idea,  and  have  put  an  inspiration  into 
the  spirit  of  the  Church,  that  largely  accounts  for  the  forward 
movement  represented  in  this  gathering  to-day. 

I  am  officially  authorized  to  say  that  more  than  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  of  missionary  money  is  to  be  credited  to  the  active 
and  separate  movement  of  the  Epworth  League  for  missions  dur- 
ing the  last  eighteen  months  or  two  years.  During  this  time 
this  large  sum  of  money  has  gone  into  the  treasury  of  the  Mis- 


ORGANIZATION    FOR    MISSIONARY    WORK.  267 

sionary  Board  through  the  efforts  of  the  Leagues ;  and  I  see  a  DU  BOSK- 
procession,  as  long  as  a  phalanx  of  German  words,  marching  out 
into  the  vistas  of  the  future,  contributions  of  Leaguers  on  golden 
and  silvern  feet,  with  timbrels  and  music,  advancing  to  fill  the 
coffers  of  the  Church.  And  I  suppose  the  virgin  on  the  dollar 
may  be  allowed  to  dance  a  little  with  a  silver  timbrel  of  this  degree 
for  accompaniment. 

Some  of  the  brethren  object  because  the  Epworth  League  is 
proving  an  expense  to  the  Church.  Well,  this  Conference  has 
cost  the  Church  somewhat,  but  did  you  not  turn  last  night  upon 
the  platter  a  cake  the  dough  of  which  was  worth  three  times  the  cost  and  value. 
cost  of  the  cooking?  The  Epworth  League  has  cost  something, 
and  it  will  yet  cost  something;  and  if  I  should  be  maintained  in 
niy  humble  place,  and  am  given  the  right,  I  will  see  that  it  may 
yet  cost  something.  But  it  will  be  money  well  invested ;  and  we 
want  only  the  brave  hearts  and  the  courageous  faith  of  young 
Methodism  (and  that  means  from  twelve  years  of  age  and  up- 
ward, to  eighty  and  ninety,  and  as  long  as  there  is  a  youthful 
heart  in  a  Methodist  bosom)  to  stay  by  us,  and  give  us  counte- 
nance and  indorsement,  and  this  work  will  be  completed. 

These  are  the  things  that  the  Epworth  League  has  achieved 
and  emphasized.  Which  is  the  greatest?  I  leave  it  to  you  to  say. 
Meantime,  I  say:  God  bless  you,  and  make  you,  many  times 
more  than  you  are,  a  great  company  to  publish  the  tidings. 


ORGANIZATION    FOR   MISSIONARY   WORK. 

REV.    E.    E.    HOSS,    D.D..    I.L.D. 

THE  conversion  of  the  world  to  Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  stu- 
pendous enterprise  that  was  ever  conceived  by  the  mind  of  man. 
To  exaggerate  the  difficulties  of  it  would  be  almost  an  impos- 
sibility. Ten  thousand  obstacles  of  every  character  lie  in  the  way 
of  its  successful  accomplishment.  Satan  and  his  confederates 
and  allies  contest  the  ground  inch  by  inch,  and  when  they  retire 
from  one  position  do  so  only  with  slow  and  sullen  steps,  and  only 
to  take  up  another.  Now  as  of  old  "we  wrestle  not  against  flesh 
and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers,  against  the 


268 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Are  missions 
quixotic? 


rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness 
in  high  places." 

From  a  purely  natural  standpoint  the  whole  business  is  a  piece 
of  chimerical  folly.  But  that  is  not  the  standpoint  from  which 
we  are  to  look  at  it.  It  is  essentially  God's  affair,  and  the  pleni- 
tude of  his  energy  is  behind  it.  The  great  commission  runs  thus  : 
"All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye 
therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  To  read 
this  great  utterance  aright,  we  must  put  a  due  emphasis  upon  the 
word  "therefore."  The  unlimited  gift  of  power  to  the  risen  and 
glorified  Lord  is  the  only  and  all-sufficient  reason  why  the 
Church  should  engage  in  the  work  of  evangelization.  The  same 
thought  is  expressed  in  different  language  by  the  apostle  Paul 
when  he  declares  not  merely  that  Jesus  Christ  is  "head  over  all 
things"  but  also  that  he  is  ''head  over  all  things  to  the  Church, 
which  is  his  body,  the  fullness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  That 
is  to  say,  his  supremacy  in  the  spiritual  universe  is  in  the  interest 
of  the  Church. 

The  strength  of  any  copartnership  is  to  be  measured  by  the 
resources  of  the  strongest  partner.  As  we  are  "workers  together 
A  partnership,  with  Christ,"  we  have  the  privilege,  under  given  conditions,  of 
drawing  upon  him  for  whatever  supplies  are  needed  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  our  great  task.  What  are  these  conditions?  To  be 
brief,  they  are  simply  that  we  first  make  a  complete  surrender 
of  ourselves  and  our  belongings  to  him  who  died  for  us  and  rose 
again.  Feeble  as  we  are,  and  limited  and  scanty  as  our  pos- 
sessions, yet  the  Lord  Jesus  makes  a  requisition  on  us  for  the 
full  use  of  every  faculty  and  the  full  consecration  of  every  groat 
•  that  we  own.  As  a  few  loaves  and  fishes,  under  his  multiplying 
touch,  furnished  an  ample  feast  for  the  hungry  thousands,  so  the 
poor  treasures  of  the  Church,  though  seemingly  inadequate  for 
any  great  purpose,  receive  a  miraculous  reinforcement  when 
they  are  willingly  laid  upon  his  altar  and  put  absolutely  and  with- 
out reserve  at  his  disposal.  In  the  broadest  and  highest  possible 
sense,  we  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  that  strengthened  us. 

Consecration  is  an  intelligent,  and  not  a  blind,  act.  It  carries 
with  it  the  conception  of  the  rational  devotion  of  our  offerings  to 
definite  ends.  We  commit  ourselves  and  our  goods  to  God  just 
in  proportion  as  we  discern  his  high  purposes  concerning  us  and 
enter  into  them.  The  true  type  of  Christian  piety  is  not  that 


ORGANIZATION    FOR   MISSIONARY   WORK.  269 

which  brings  its  all  and  throws  it  down  in  careless  abandon  on  "oss- 
the  floor  of  the  temple,  but  rather  that  which  sees  with  clarified 
vision  some  great  achievement  to  be  wrought,  and  wisely  en- 
deavors to  transmute  its  material  holdings  and  mental  energies 
into  spiritual  results.  If  this  be  true  in  the  case  of  the  individual 
believer,  it  is  still  more  true  of  the  Church  as  a  whole.  Organ- 
ized effort,  which  is  the  same  thing  as  intelligent  and  well-directed 
effort  as  opposed  to  thoughtless  and  spasmodic  activity,  is  su- 
premely important  in  the  great  and  age-long  conflict  between 
the  hosts  of  light  and  those  of  darkness.  The  Church  is  not  a 
mob,  each  man  shouting  and  fighting  on  his  own  account,  but  a 
compact  and  disciplined  army,  that  moves  with  a  common  step 
toward  a  glorious  goal. 

There  is  a  widespread  notion,  often  implicitly  entertained  even 
when  it  is  not  explicitly  asserted,  that  organization  is  opposed  to 
life.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  true  organization  is  always  vital  and 
not  mechanical.  In  the  animal  kingdom  complexity  of  organi-  V3.iif>? 
zation  is  the  true  measure  of  life.  Down  at  the  bottom  of  the 
scale  we  find  amoeba  princeps,  a  mere  minute  mass  of  jelly,  with- 
out differentiated  organs  and  functions,  and  at  the  top  of  it  we 
see  man,  the  most  elaborate  and  curiously  wrought  of  all  God's 
creatures.  Why  should  we  not  expect  to  witness  a  repetition  of 
these  phenomena  in  the  kingdom  of  God?  An  abounding  full- 
ness of  the  Spirit  is  sure  to  display  itself  in  a  corresponding  rich- 
ness and  glory  of  external  manifestations.  Let  us,  then,  not  heed 
the  protests  of  those  who  insist  that  there  is  too  much  organ- 
ization in  the  Church.  In  very  truth,  there  is  as  yet  too  little 
of  concerted  action  and  uniform  movement.  What  is  needed  is 
a  scheme  that  will  bring  everybody  into  line,  and  put  everybody 
to  pulling  in  the  same  direction. 

It  is  not  wise  nor  right  to  belittle  what  has  already  been  done 
in  regard  to  missions.  The  record  of  our  denomination  in  the 
days  before  the  civil  war  was  a  particularly  honorable  one.  Out  o-.  r  ;eccrd. 
of  that  terrible  bath  of  fire  and  blood  we  came  with  wasted  energy 
and  broken  spirit.  For  a  few  years  we  seemed  to  have  lost  in- 
terest in  the  rest  of  the  world.  Scoffed  at  and  derided  even  by 
our  fellow-Christians  in  America  and  Europe,  we  took  up  for  the 
time  an  attitude  of  isolation,  and  gave  ourselves  wholly  to  our 
own  affairs.  Rut  this  did  not  last  long.  The  old  spirit  soon  be- 
gan to  stir,  and  to  grow  stronger  with  the  effort.  To  say  that  for 
the  past  twenty-five  years  we  have  simply  been  "playing-  at  mis- 


27O  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

sions"  is  to  use  reckless  and  indefensible  words.  In  that  time 
we  have  largely  increased  our  work  in  China,  and  gained  a  firm 
foothold  in  Japan,  Korea,  Mexico,  Brazil,  and  Cuba.  The  con- 
templation of  all  that  has  been  wrought  ought  to  stir  our  hearts 
with  gratitude  and  with  hopefulness.  Last  year  the  Church  gave 
for  foreign  and  domestic  missions  nearly  $600,000. 

But  the  call  of  the  future  is  for  still  greater  liberality.  Unless 
we  mean  to  be  recreant  to  our  duty,  we  must  plan  for  larger 
The  can  of  issues.  Nobody  among  us  has  yet  been  hurt  by  what  he  has 
given  in  time  or  money  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom.  Where 
is  the  man  that  has  worn  an  old  coat  or  gone  hungry  for  a  single 
day  in  order  that  some  poor  soul  might  be  blessed  with  the  light 
of  gospel  truth  ?  The  mere  suggestion  that  we  are  likely  to  im- 
poverish ourselves  by  our  beneficence  is  an  absurdity.  The  dan- 
ger rather  is  that  we  shall  incur  the  displeasure  and  wrath  of  God 
by  the  narrowness  of  our  views  and  the  penuriousness  of  our 
spirit.  A  million  dollars  a  year  for  the  work  in  foreign  fields 
would  be  but  a  poor  expression  of  our  gratitude  for  the  blessings 
that  we  have  received  from  the  hands  of  our  crucified  Saviour. 

Can  we  raise  such  a  sum  as  that?  Yes,  if  we  will  go  at  it  in 
the  right  way.  Only  let  there  be  wise  planning  and  faithful  labor, 
ways  and  and  the  consummation  may  be  reached.  Is  there  not  a  lesson  for 
means  for  the  ^  -^  ihe  methods  of  the  Salvation  Army  and,  nearer  home,  in 
the  success  that  has  followed  the  efforts  of  our  good  women? 
The  thing  to  do  is  to  enroll  a  standing  army  of  contributors,  each 
one  pledged  to  give,  as  long  as  the  blessing  of  God  will  enable 
him,  so  much  every  year  for  missions.  There  ought  to  be  some 
among  us  to  send  in  their  checks  for  five  or  ten  thousand  dollars 
annually,  still  more  for  one  thousand,  a  great  many  for  one  hun- 
dred, and  a  multitude  for  smaller  sums. 

The  list  of  all  these  should  be  kept  in  the  office  of  the  Mission- 
ary Secretaries,  and  partial  lists  should  also  be  kept  by  the  Boards 
in'each  Annual  Conference.  As  some  persons  will  drop  out  from 
year  to  year,  constant  diligence  will  be  necessary  to  supply  their 
places  with  new  recruits.  The  work  cannot  be  finished  once  for 
all,  but  must  be  continued  without  pause  or  break  from  year  to 
year.  That  due  justice  may  be  done,  every  contribution,  great 
or  small,  should  be  credited  on  assessment  to  the  particular 
Church  and  Conference  from  which  it  comes.  As  a  supplement, 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE    YOUNG   PEOPLE.  271 

the  regular  collections  should  also  be  taken  in  every  congrega-  HOSS- 
tion,  and  everybody  should  be  urged  to  exercise  the  glorious 
privilege  of  giving  something,  if  it  be  only  one  cent,  for  this 
noblest  of  causes.  That  is  the  ideal  to  be  aimed  at.  It  will  not 
be  reached  at  once,  it  may  never  be  reached  at  all ;  but  it  may  be 
approximated  in  due  time. 


THE   RESPONSIBILITY   OF  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE 
FOR  THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD. 

JOHN    R.    MOTT. 

IT  is  a  most  inspiring  fact  that  the  young  people  of  this  gener- 
ation do  not  apologize  for  world-wide  missions.  It  would  seem 
that  that  Christian  who  in  these  days  would  apologize  for  mis- 
sions is  either  ignorant  or  thoughtless,  because  a  man  who  apol- 
ogizes for  missions  apologizes  for  all  enduring  religion ;  for,  as 
Max  Miillcr  has  said,  "The  non-Christian  religions  are  either  dy- 
ing or  are  dead."  He  apologizes  manifestly  for  Christianity,  be- 
cause that  is  essentially  a  missionary  enterprise.  He  apologizes 
for  civilization,  because  the  highest  civilization  of  the  world  is 
found  in  the  pathway  of  the  missionary  host.  He  apologizes  for 
the  Bible,  because  missions  constitute  its  central  theme.  He  apol-  required. 
ogizes  for  the  prayer  of  his  Lord  and  for  the  Apostles'  Creed  ;  and 
he  need  only  repeat  their  familiar  phrases  to  be  humiliated  with 
the  thought.  He  apologizes  for  the  fatherhood  of  God.  and  in 
doing  so  also  for  the  brotherhood  of  man.  If  he  is  a  Christian, 
he  apologizes  for  every  whit  of  spiritual  life  that  is  in  himself; 
and,  worst  of  all,  he  apologizes  for  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  Propi- 
tiation not  for  our  sins  only  but  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  I  re- 
peat, he  is  either  ignorant  or  thoughtless. 

Not  only  do  the  students  and  other  young  people  of  our  day, 
however,  not  apologize  for  this  world-wide  enterprise,  but  they 
believe  in  it  as  has  no  preceding  generation  of  young  people. 
They  are  believing-  in  it  with  a  depth  of  conviction,  and  manifest- 
ing their  belief  with  a  practical  sympathy  and  purpose  and  action, 
such  as  has  never  been  witnessed  in  any  preceding  age  in  the 
history  of  the  Church.  If  you  ask  me  to-night  to  give  you  the 


272 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


A  needy  world , 


Depth  of  the 
need. 


grounds  of  their  belief,  and  in  this  way  to  define  their  responsi- 
bility for  the  world's  evangelization,  I  would  place  at  the  thres- 
hold the  fundamental  reason  that  they  feel  their  obligation  to 
preach  Christ  because  all  people  need  Christ. 

The  need  of  the  non-Christian  world  is  an  extensive  need. 
South  of  this  country  we  have  not  less  than  fifty  millions  of  peo- 
ple in  Mexico,  the  West  Indies,  Central  America,  and  the  South 
American  republics.  In  the  Levant  there  are  tens  of  millions 
of  others.  In  the  Dark  Continent,  at  the  most  conservative  esti- 
mate, there  are  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions ;  in  the  East 
Indies  and  the  other  islands  of  the  Southern  seas,  fifty  millions 
more ;  in  India,  Burma,  Ceylon,  and  Siam,  not  less  than  three 
hundred  millions ;  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom  of  Japan,  over  forty 
millions ;  and  not  less  than  four  hundred  millions  in  China  and 
the  states  that  fringe  upon  her,  Korea,  Manchuria,  Mongolia,  and 
Tibet. 

Over  one  thousand  millions  !  Can  we  grasp  the  number?  No, 
indeed !  It  is  indeed  an  extensive  need.  It  is  not  only  an  ex- 
tensive need,  but  it  is  an  intensive  one ;  and  the  intensive  need 
of  the  non-Christian  world  is  indescribably  great.  The  Scriptures 
maintain  this  much.  They  show  us  most  vividly  the  condition  of 
men  apart  from  Jesus  Christ.  They  present  to-day,  as  every 
world  traveler  will  tell  you,  an  unexaggerated  picture  of  the 
moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  over  two-thirds  of  the  human 
i  ace.  Not  only  the  Scriptures  but  scientific  observation  proves 
to  a  demonstration  that  those  peoples  without  Christ  have  a  need 
which  is  very  deep.  Think  of  them  to-night,  living  in  darkness 
and  ignorance,  steeped  in  superstition  and  idolatry,  in  degrada- 
tion and  corruption ;  see  them,  under  what  a  load  of  shame 
and  sorrow  and  sin  and  pain  and  suffering,  as  they  live  and  move 
on  in  silence  to  the  tomb ;  notice  the  fearful  inroads  and  on- 
slaughts of  the  forces  of  evil.  And  remind  yourselves  that  they  do 
not  have  those  powers  of  resistance  which  we  have  as  the  result 
of  Christian  heredity,  Christian  environment,  and  the  domination 
of  Christian  ideas  and  ideals.  They  fight  a  losing  battle.  If  I 
could  take  every  one  of  you  on  a  long  journey  of  nearly  two 
years,  through  those  great  sections  of  the  non-Christian  world, 
that  you  might  see  what  I  have  seen,  that  you  might  hear  what 
I  have  heard,  that  you  might  feel  what  I  have  felt,  the  last  iota 
of  skepticism  which  may  linger  in  the  mind  of  any  one  here  as 
to  the  need  of  these  people  of  knowing  Christ  would  vanish. 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE   YOUNG    PEOPLE.  273 

Truly  their  need  is  indescribably  great.    It  comes  back  to  haunt  MOTT- 
me  in  the  watches  of  the  night;  and  if  God  spajres  my  life  and 
my  plans  can  be  properly  shaped,  I  want  in  a  few  months  hence 
to  put  my  life  once  more  alongside  those  young  men  who  are 
fighting  their  losing  fight. 

We  need  not  to  be  world  travelers ;  we  need  not  to  be  mission- 
aries ;  no,  we  need  not  to  be  profound  students  of  the  Bible — to 
be  convinced  that  men  need  Christ.  Look  only  into  your  own 
heart.  If  you  and  I  know  that  we  need  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  has  How  to  know 
been  and  is  essential  to  us,  is  it  not  presumptuous  to  suppose  that  i*. 
people  living  in  less  favored  lands,  without  the  ennobling  and  in- 
spiring forces  and  associations  with  which  we  are  familiar,  can 
get  along  without  him  ?  Moreover,  it  should  be  emphasized  that 
the  non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate  to  meet  this  need. 
Over  fifteen  thousand  four  hundred  Protestant  missionaries,  scat- 
tered throughout  the  world,  present  a  united  front  on  this  ques- 
tion. There  is  no  division  of  opinion  among  them.  Standing 
face  to  face  with  the  need  itself,  and,  therefore,  in  a  position  to 
make  a  thorough  study  of  the  problem,  they  say  with  one  voice 
that,  unless  Christ  is  borne  to  these  regions,  these  people  are 
without  hope.  I  used  to  doubt  that,  Mr.  Chairman,  when  I  was 
studying  comparative  religion,  and  when  I  went  as  a  delegate  to 
the  Parliament  of  Religions  in  Chicago  several  years  ago.  But  On!y  Chn~t- 
when  I  had  opportunity  to  make  a  scientific  study  of  the  problem 
(and  a  scientific  study  takes  account  of  all  the  facts,  and  not  sim- 
ply of  theories)  all  my  skepticism  vanished.  As  I  went  up  and 
down  densely  populated  provinces  and  presidencies  and  native 
states,  as  I  conversed  with  over  thirteen  hundred  missionaries, 
representing  some  eighty  missionary  societies  (and  I  know  of  no 
university  education  that  means  more  to  a  man  than  to  sit  at 
the  feet  of  missionaries),  as  I  talked  with  hundreds  of  civilians 
and  native  students  and  priests,  as  I  visited  countless  shrines  and 
temples  and  holy  places,  as  I  witnessed  the  superstitions,  the 
abominations,  the  cruelties,  the  injustices,  within  the  immediate 
confines  of  these  sacred  places,  so  called,  the  conviction  became 
ever  deeper  and  stronger  that  these  nations  without  Christ  are 
without  hope.  Yes,  I  believe  to  the  core  of  my  being  that 
Christ  some  day  must  have  sway  over  this  whole  world.  He  is  He  " 
not  going  to  divide  the  world  with  Buddhism  and  Confucianism 
and  Hindooism  and  Mohammedanism  ;  he  is  going  to  have  com- 
plete sway.  It  takes  no  prophet  in  our  time  to  see  that  that  • 


274  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MOTT.  Church  which  conquered  the  Roman  Empire,  which  cast  the 

spell  of  the  matchless  Christ  over  the  nations  of  Western  and 
Northern  Europe,  which  has  moved  with  giant  strides  among  the 
nations  and  is  shaking  them  to-day — that  that  Church  will  prevail. 
He  shall  reign  from  sea  to  sea.  When  He  girds  on  his  conquer- 
ing sword  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  see  the  salvation  of 
our  God. 

I  would  note  also  that  this  obligation  which  is  felt  so  deeply 
by  the  young  people  of  our  day  is  intensified  by  a  further  consid- 
eration, not  only  that  all  men  need  Christ,  but  that  we  owe  Christ 
to  all  men.  To  have  a  knowledge  of  Christ  is  to  incur  a  tremendous 

bim^eSP°ESi~  responsibility  to  those  that  have  it  not.  You  and  I  have  received 
this  great  heritage,  not  to  appropriate  it  to  our  own  exclusive 
use,  but  to  pass  it  on  to  others.  It  concerns  all  men.  We  are 
trustees  of  the  gospel,  and  in  no  sense  sole  proprietors.  Every 
Chinese,  every  East  Indian,  every  inhabitant  of  the  Southern  seas, 
has  the  right  to  know  of  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  you 
and  I  violate  the  eighth  commandment  if  we  keep  this  knowl- 
edge from  them.  You  may  show  me  the  very  best  disciple  of  any 
one  of  these  religions — and  I  have  seen  men  living  noble  lives 
who  are  devotees  of  those  religions — I  say  he  has  a  right  to  know 
of  the  life  and  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  his 
mission  to  mankind.  What  a  colossal  crime  against  two-thirds  of 
the  human  race  to  withhold  this  surpassing  knowledge  ! 

The  weight  of  responsibility  becomes  still  greater  when  we 
stop  to  ask  ourselves  the  question  :  If  we  do  not  take  this  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  to  these  people,  who  will?  What  should  move  us, 
fellow  young  men,  and  what  should  move  the  young  women  here, 

The  ir.(.tive.  an(^  those  whom  we  all  represent,  to  fling  ourselves  into  this  en- 
terprise and  bear  Christ  to  these  people?  It  would  seem  that  the 
claims  of  our  common  humanity  and  of  universal  brotherhood 
would  be  sufficient  to  inspire  us  to  go  ourselves  or  to  send  sub- 
stitutes. If  that  is  not  sufficient,  the  golden  rule  of  Jesus  Christ, 
by  which  I  take  it  every  one  of  us  desires  to  fashion  conscien- 
tiously his  life,  would  lead  us  logically  and  irresistibly  to  do  so. 
If  that  does  not  move  us,  the  example  of  our  Lord  in  this  prac- 
tical age  ought  to  stir  us  to  action,  because  those  who  say  they 
abide  in  him  ought  themselves  so  to  walk  even  as  he  walked.  If 
that  does  not  move  us,  then  every  thoughtful  and  reflecting  per- 
son, it  would  seem,  should  be  moved  by  the  Great  Commission 
or  the  marchiner  orders  of  the  Church  of  God.  The  last  com- 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE.  275 

mandment  of  Christ  is  operative  until  it  is  repealed.  We  have  MOT 
had  no  intimation  that  it  has  been  repealed.  It  is  not  optional, 
as  some  would  assume,  but  obligatory.  It  awaits  its  fulfillment 
by  a  generation  which  shall  have  the  requisite  faith  and  courage, 
the  audacity  and  the  purpose  of  heart,  to  do  their  duty  to  the 
whole  world.  It  would  seem  to  me  that  every  Christian  who  is 
a  Christian  of  reality  ought  to  be  a  missionary  Christian ;  for,  as 
Archbishop  Whately  has  said — mark  his  language,  note  it  well : 
"If  my  faith  be  false,  I  ought  to  change  it;  whereas  if  it  be  true, 
I  am  bound  to  propagate  it."  There  is  no  middle  ground ;  either 
abandon  my  religion  or  be  a  missionary  in  spirit. 

There  is  yet  a  third  consideration ;  and  that  is,  that  the  young 
people  of  our  day  should  seek  to  evangelize  the  world  because 
it  is  essential  to  their  own  best  life.  If  all  men  need  Christ,  and 
if  we  owe  a  knowledge  of  Christ  to  all  men,  manifestly  it  is  our 
duty  to  take  that  knowledge  to  them.  To  know  our  duty  and 
to  do  it  not  is  sin.  Continuance  in  the  sin  of  neglect  and  dis- 
obedience necessarily  weakens  the  life  and  arrests  the  growth.  ^ 
\Yhat  loss  of  spiritual  life,  what  loss  of  energy  and  of  faith,  the 
Church  of  Christ  has  already  suffered  from  a  fractional  obedience 
to  the  last  command  of  our  Lord  ! 

The  young  people's  movements  of  our  day,  like  our  own  Ep- 
\vorth  League,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  the  Young 
I'eople's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  the  St.  Andrew's  Broth- 
erhood, the  Young  Men's  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  need  nothing  so  much  as  some  mighty  objective 
to  call  out  the  best  energies  of  mind  and  heart.  We  find  pre- 
cisely such  an  objective  in  the  sublime  enterprise  of  filling  the 
earth  with  a  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  deep. 
If  we  would  save  our  Christian  young  people's  movements  from 
their  perils  of  ease  and  luxury  and  selfishness  and  slothfulness 
and  unreality,  we  must  necessarily  take  up  some  great  and  scrip- 
tural object  like  this,  and  give  ourselves  to  it  with  holy  abandon. 

This  point  comes  to  mean  more  when  we  remember  that  the 
largest  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  Christ  is  to  those  that 
are  obedient  to  his  missionary  command.  Have  you  ever  re- 
flected upon  it  that  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  invariablv 
associated  with  testimony  and  witness-bearing?  Therefore  we 
can  do  nothing  which  will  mean  so  much  to  the  home  Church  as 
to  develop  this  foreign  missionary  spirit.  If  we  would  have  the 
Holv  Snirit  working  with  mightv  nower  in  all  our  communities — 


276  GENERAL  MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


MOTT.  amj  is  this  not  our  greatest  need  ?  —  we  shall  have  this  experience 

as  we  walk  in  the  pathway  of  our  missionary  Leader  in  obedience 
to  his  command. 

The  obligation  to  evangelize  the  world,  which  presses  in  upon 
the  young  people  of  our  day,  is  also  a  most  urgent  obligation. 
The  Christians  who  are  now  living  must  preach  Christ  to  the 
non-Christians  who  are  now  alive,  if  they  are  ever  to  hear  of 
Christ.    The  Christians  of  a  past  generation  cannot  do  it  ;  they 
are  dead  and  gone.    The  Christians  of  the  next  generation  cannot 
do  it  ;  by  that  time  the  present  non-Christians  will  be  dead  and 
our  own  gen-     gone.      Obviously,   each   generation   of   Christians   must   make 
eration.  Christ  known  to  its  own  generation  of  non-Christians,  if  they 

are  to  have  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  But  we  might  just  as  well 
get  the  Christians  who  come  after  us  to  love  God  for  us,  or  get 
them  to  love  our  neighbors  for  us,  as  to  be  obedient  for  us. 
Moreover  (and  I  am  now  speaking  to  those  of  my  own  genera- 
tion), we  are  living  in  a  time  of  unexampled  crisis.  It  is  also  a 
time  of  marvelous  opportunity.  The  world  is  better  known  and 
more  accessible  than  in  any  other  generation  which  has  ever  lived. 
The  need  of  the  world  is  more  articulate  and  intelligible  than  it 
has  ever  been,  and  the  resources  of  the  Church  are  far  greater 
to-day,  as  well  as  her  ability  to  enter  these  open  doors,  than  has 
been  the  case  in  any  preceding  generation.  It  would  seem  that 
this  would  impose  a  great  burden  of  responsibility  upon  our  gen- 
eration ;  greater  than  upon  any  other  generation.  You  and  I 
cannot  excuse  ourselves  by  doing-  what  our  fathers  did.  The 
world  is  smaller  to-day  to  us  than  this  country  was  to  our  fathers. 
We  have  the  opportunity  to  do  larger  things,  and  we  are  going  to 
be  judged  by  our  talents  and  the  use  of  them.  God  forbid  that 
we  should  lack  vision  in  these  days  to  take  advantage  of  the  tide 
that  is  rising  to  sweep  multitudes  into  the  all-embracing  kingdom 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  forces  of  evil  are  not  putting  off  their  work  until  next  gen- 
eration. When  I  was  in  Japan  I  found  that  militarism  and  ma- 
terialism said  :  "Let  us  ingulf  Japan  in  this  generation,  and  we 
shall  not  be  so  much  concerned  about  subsequent  generations." 
Commerce  and  avarice  and  international  jealousies  say:  "Give 
us  China  in  this  generation."  In  India  I  discovered  that  ration- 
alism said  :  "Let  us  have  the  right  of  way  in  the  Indian  universities 
for  this  one  generation,  and  we  will  hold  that  great  continent 
for  several  generations."  In  the  Turkish  Empire  lust  and  cruelty 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE   YOUNG   PEOPLE.  277 

said  :  "Let  us  go  unchecked  in  this  generation."    Why  should  not  MOTT- 
the  Church  of  God  rise  in  her  might,  and  give  herself  to  this  task 

The  world  is 

as  no  preceding  generation  has  done  ?  moving. 

It  would  seem  that  the  enterprises  of  a  secular  or  non-Chris- 
tian character  might  stir  us  from  our  lethargy  and  inspire  us  to 
undertake  larger  things.  The  different  governments  of  the  world 
have  recently  united  to  make  a  magnetic  survey  of  the  whole 
world  and  complete  their  survey  by  the  year  1910. 

Stanley,  before  starting  on  his  last  trip  to  Africa,  wanted  some 
thirty  European  helpers,  and  advertised  for  that  number.  They 
were  to  go  into  the  most  deadly  parts  of  Africa.  Within  two 
\veeks,  how  many  responded?  Over  twelve  hundred  young  men, 
ready  to  face  African  fever  and  other  perils  known  and  unknown, 
that  they  might  extend  the  domain  of  knowledge.  We  have  read 
of  the  great  rushes  for  gold  in  the  Northwest  in  the  last  two  or 
three  years.  You  remember  that  there  went  over  the  difficult  volunteers, 
passes  (and  they  were  very  difficult  in  the  early  days)  within  four- 
teen months  over  one  thousand  young  men  to  the  Klondike.  It 
meant  not  only  a  great  risk  to  them,  but  in  a  great  number  of 
cases  death — and  all  for  the  love  of  gold.  Down  in  the  Philip- 
pines we  have  had  at  one  time  over  sixty  thousand  troops.  They 
have  gone,  regiment  after  regiment,  without  any  particular  strain 
upon  the  country.  And  when  these  regiments  have  returned  they 
have  met  with  a  constant  ovation  from  the  Golden  Gate  until 
they  passed  to  the  different  sections  of  the  North,  South,  or  East 
to  which  they  were  journeying.  In  South  Africa  the  British  army 
has  grown  steadily  until  now  they  have  there  not  less  than  250,- 
ooo  men,  and  they  have  blocked  off  that  part  of  the  world  into 
squares,  and  are  sweeping  over  those  squares  every  few  days  in 
their  work  of  cornering  up  the  forces  of  the  Boers.  We  have 
been  impressed  with  the  way  that  great  force  was  mobilized.  We 
have  been  impressed  with  the  wonderul  spectacle  presented  of 
the  unity  and  loyalty  of  the  British  Empire.  Doubtless  we  were 
even  more  impressed  to  see  not  only  the  young  men,  but  also 
the  old  men  and  the  boys,  go  out  from  the  two  little  mountain 
republics  to  fight  the  battles  of  their  country.  In  recent  months 
an  international  army  has  been  assembled  in  China  from  Europe 
and  Asia  and  America.  But  the  world  takes  it  as  a  matter  of 
course.  They  say  that  these  are  precisely  the  things  to  do  if  cer- 
tain purposes  are  to  be  accomplished.  And  yet  when  somebody 
suggests  that  a  few  ten?  of  thousands  of  young  men  and  young 


278  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MOTT-  women  living  in  this  favored  generation  rise  up  and,  in  obedience 

to  the  last  command  of  Christ,  go  out  into  the  places  where 
he  has  not  been  named,  we  are  told  that  it  would  be  too  great 
a  strain  on  the  resources  of  the  Church,  and  that  it  would  handi- 

of  thisVorid.  caP  tne  activities  of  the  Church  at  home.  They  forget  the  law 
of  God  :  "There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth  ;  and  there  is 
that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty." 

The  Mormon  Church  has  250,000  members,  and  they  have  over 
1,700  missionaries — that  is,  men  working  outside  of  the  Mor- 
mon community  proselyting.  They  also  have  a  law  by  which  they 
can  increase  their  number  of  workers  to  between  seven  and  eight 
thousand  if  they  so  desire,  and  their  young  men  respond  obe- 
diently whenever  the  call  comes  for  a  larger  reenforcement. 

When  I  was  in  the  little  island  of  Ceylon  I  reviewed  its  his- 
tory, and  was  deeply  stirred  as  I  thought  that  from  that  little 
island  there  went  forth,  centuries  ago,  not  hundreds  but  thou- 
sands of  Buddhist  missionaries.  They  stormed  the  whole  Asiatic 
coast ;  and  as  the  result,  largely  of  their  labors,  there  are  to-day 
hundreds  of  millions  of  adherents  to  that  great  incomplete  and 
false  religion. 

When  I  was  in  Cairo  I  visited  the  famous  university  of  El  Azar. 
As  I  remember,  there  are  some  three  hundred  and  seventy  pillars, 
and  around  many  of  them  I  found  classes  of  Mohammedan  stu- 
dents seated  on  the  pavement  with  a  teacher  in  the  center  of 

/  s-h:>3!  of  f-e    eacn  g1"011?-    One  °f tne  students  said  to  me :  "We  have  between 

Ko-ip..  eight  and  nine  thousand  students  here."    I  asked  him  what  books 

they  were  studying,  and  he  said  that  they  were  studying  only 
one  and  the  commentaries  on  it — the  Koran.  I  said,  "What  is 
your  object?"  and  he  said,  "We  are  all  studying  here  to  go  out 
as  missionaries  of  Mohammed."  These  men  had  come  from  re- 
gions reaching  all  the  way  from  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  down  to 
the  islands  of  the  East  Indies  to  prepare  themselves  to  be  emis- 
saries of  the  false  prophet. 

As  we  think  of  examples  like  these,  are  not  our  hearts  moved 
within  us  ?  I  am  looking  day  by  day  for  young  men  and  young 
women  of  like  heroism  and  of  greater  consecration,  touched  by 
the  spirit  of  the  ascended  Christ,  who  will  show  like  loyalty  in 
carrying  out  his  final  wishes  with  reference  to  the  world  for  which 
he  died. 

wait  can  we  How  can  the  young  men  and  young  women  of  our  day  best 
discharge  their  obligation  to  the  world's  evangelization?  Well, 


RESPONSIBILITY   OF  THE  YOUNG   PEOPLE.  279 

manifestly  we  must  keep  ourselves  informed  concerning  the  great  MOTT- 
enterprise  of  world-wide  missions. 

The  words  of  Christ,  in  an  entirely  different  connection,  sug- 
gest themselves  to  me  now :  "Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scrip- 
tures, nor  the  power  of  God."  If  there  is  any  place  where  the 
power  of  God  is  being  manifested  to-day  more  than  elsewhere, 
it  is  in  the  non-Christian  world  where  the  arm  of  God  has  been 
made  bare  and  where  we  are  witnessing  such  marvelous  tri- 
umphs of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 

We  do  ourselves  an  injustice  if  we  do  not  keep  in  vivid  touch 
with  this  wonderful  missionary  movement.  To  do  the  will  of 
God,  we  must  know  the  needs  of  man.  I  fail  to  see  how  any 
young  men  or  young  women  can  be  perfectly  sure  that  they  are 
doing  what  God  wants  them  to  do,  if  they  are  not  carrying  on  a 
thorough  study  of  this  great  world.  Every  young  Christian  in 
the  Church  ought  to  have  an  ambition  to  know  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus  Christ,  its  great  fields,  its  marvelous  triumphs,  its  prob- 
lems, its  inspiring  opportunities,  and  its  transcendent  resources. 
We  can  have  no  better  creed  than  the  creed  of  St.  Augustine : 
"A  whole  Christ  for  my  salvation,  a  whole  Bible  for  my  staff,  a 
whole  Church  for  my  fellowship,  and  a  whole  world  for  my 
parish."  Let  us  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the  world- 
wide horizon  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

Each  band  of  young  people  should  also  be  a  center  for  dis- 
seminating information  concerning  the  work  of  God  in  the  world. 
There  is  a  shocking  amount  of  ignorance  and  of  flimsy  excuses 
and  objections  concerning  world-wide  missions,  which  will  be 
banished  only  by  an  educational  campaign.  Therefore,  let  me  in- 
dorse with  strong  conviction  everything  that  has  been  said  on  this 
platform  from  this  morning  until  to-night,  and  which  has  been 
so  ably  stated  by  the  different  advocates,  on  the  inestimable  im- 
portance of  educating  on  missions  beginning  even  with  the  child 
at  the  mother's  knee,  reaching  up  through  the  Sunday  school 
and  the  Junior  Department  of  the  Epworth  League,  and  the 
Senior  Department,  up  to  the  ministrations  of  the  pastor,  so  that 
we  will  have  a  generation  who  will  have  knowledge  adequate  to 
meet  the  opportunity  that  confronts  this  generation. 

There  is  no  subject,  unless  it  be  the  study  of  the  Life  of  Christ, 
the  study  of  which  is  more  broadening,  more  deepening,  more 
elevating,  more  inspiring  than  the  subject  of  world-wide   mis-  Teach 
sions.     Xo  subject  more  broadening;  it  embraces  all  mankind. 


280  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


more  deepening;  it  takes  us  down  to  the  very  depths 
of  the  designs  of  God.  Surely  no  subject  more  elevating.  I  can 
think  of  nothing  that  so  lifts  a  man  out  of  himself.  And  can  any- 
thing be  more  inspiring  than  that  enterprise  which  commanded 
the  life  and  death  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord?  I  repeat  it, 
therefore,  that  we  do  our  fellow  young  men  and  young  women 
in  the  Epworth  League,  the  Sunday  school,  and  Churches  a 
grave  injustice  if  we  keep  out  of  their  lives  this  sublime  enter- 
prise as  a  special  study. 

Each  one  of  our  bands  of  young  people,  whether  it  be  large  or 
small,  should  also  be  a  band  of  intercession.  There  is  an  old 
Jewish  proverb  that  "He  prays  not  at  all  in  whose  prayers  there 
is  no  mention  of  the  kingdom  of  God."  Everything  vital  to 
missions  hinges  upon  prayer.  This  is  one  of  my  strongest  con- 
victions, but  I  pass  it  at  this  time,  as  I  shall  have  an  opportunity 
to  enlarge  upon  it  fully  to-morrow  night. 

Every  one  of  our  organizations  of  young  people  should  be  a 
school  of  self-sacrifice.  Believe  me,  there  is  need  in  our  day  of 
more  heroic  and  self-denying  giving.  We  need  to  teach  young 
men  and  young  women  that  they  are  the  stewards,  not  simply  of 
a  tenth,  but  of  all  they  possess,  and  that  we  are  responsible,  not 
alone  for  the  good  use  of  our  money,  whether  it  be  little  or  great, 
but  for  its  best  possible  use.  Let  every  one  of  us  be  guided  by 
that  scriptural  principle  which  governed  the  life  of  Livingstone, 
that  we  will  place  no  value  upon  anything  we  have  or  may  pos- 
sess, except  in  its  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  would 
revolutionize  the  habits  of  giving  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Wesley  at  one  time  received  a  salary  of  sixty  pounds  ($300)  a 
year,  and  was  able  to  live  upon  it  and  to  give  quite  a  little  of  it 
to  Christian  work.  As  his  salary  and  income  increased,  he  still 
lived  on  less  than  sixty  pounds,  and  gave  all  the  remainder  to  the 
extension  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Not  many  months  ago  a  young 
man  in  Canada  (not  a  very  wealthy  young1  man,  you  would  not 
count  him  wealthy  at  all  if  I  could  give  you  the  estimated  figures 
of  his  possessions,  but  a  young  man  prosperous  in  his  business) 
came  to  me  and  said  that  he  would  like  to  support  a  representa- 
tive on  the  foreign  field,  and  he  gave  $1,200  toward  the  salary  and 
expenses  of  a  foreign  worker.  A  few  weeks  ago,  when  I  was  at 
Princeton  College,  I  received  a  message  telling  me  that  I  should 
go  to  New  York  City  and  see  this  young  man.  He  was  to  take 
the  boat  on  the  following  day  for  Europe.  When  I  met  him  in 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE.  281 

New  York  he  said :  ''I  have  been  so  much  blessed  by  helping  to   vfOTT- 
support  that  man  in  Japan  that  I  should  like  to  have  a  hand,  if 
you  can  find  an  equally  good  man,  in  supporting  another."    I  did 
not  find  it  very  difficult  to  suggest  a  man  equally  good.    I  held 
out  before  him  two  men.     I  said,  "Here  is  one  man  that  it  will 
take  about  $1,200  to  send,  and  this  one  about  $800;"  and  he  de- 
cided that  he  would  improve  the  $1,200  opportunity.     He  took  Worklag 
his  boat,  and  less  than  two  days  ago,  since  I  have  been  at  this  twenty-four 
Conference,  I  received  a  letter  from  him,  written  in  England,  say-  hours- 
ing  that  as  he  was  praying  about  it  on  the  ocean  he  decided  that 
he  wanted  to  take  the  $800  man  also.    He  said :  "God  has  pros- 
pered me  in  my  business,  and  as  I  extend  my  business  I  want  to 
enlarge  my  cooperation  in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.     I  do  not  need  any  more  for  clothing  than  I  now  spend. 
I  do  not  need  any  more  expensive  house  or  furniture."     That 
man  has  the  idea  of  Christ ;  and  if  that  idea  can  take  possession  of 
a  sufficient  number  of  young  men,  we  shall  have  money  sufficient 
to  evangelize  the  world  in  a  generation,  with  ease  so  far  as  money 
is  concerned. 

We  need  not  only  more  money,  but  also  more  of  our  best  young 
men  and  young  women  for  this  work.  We  were  all  impressed  by 
the  magnificent  offering  of  $50,000  by  the  delegates  here  last 
night.  But  there  is  still  needed,  in  order  to  make  this  convention 
reach  its  highest  climax,  a  great  offering  of  the  most  consecrated 
young  men  and  women  of  this  convention,  and,  through  the 
many  pastors  who  shall  go  back  from  here,  hundreds  of  equally 
consecrated  young  men  and  young  women  in  the  different  spir- 
itual centers  of  the  South.  This  is  needed  because  of  the  great 
opportunity  before  us.  I  was  told  by  Dr.  Lambuth  to-night  that 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Messengers 
South,  have  decided  that  with  God's  blessing  they  will  send  out 
in  the  next  five  years  one  hundred  new  missionaries.  This  is  a 
direct  leading  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  who  leads  us  to  do  large 
things.  Where  are  all  these  missionaries  corning  from?  I  can- 
not conceive  of  any  riper  harvest  field  than  the  one  right  here, 
prepared  by  many  months  of  patient  prayerfulness.  Here  we 
have  hundreds  of  consecrated  Christians  from  all  over  this  favored 
Church.  Where  have  we  the  right  to  look  with  greater  confi- 
dence for  reinforcements?  May  we  not  have  many  here  who, 
as  the  result  of  fighting  to  the  end  of  self,  shall  say  with  glad 
abandonment  of  self:  "Here  am  I;  send  me?''  Remember  the 


282 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


What  shall 
the  parents 
say? 


The  pastors. 


German  proverb :  "The  good  is  the  enemy  of  the  best."  Let  us 
not  be  satisfied  with  a  good  thing;  let  us  have  the  best.  Let  us 
be  content  with  nothing  else  than  leaving  the  deepest  mark  on 
our  generation.  And  remember  also  that  if  it  is  a  good  thing  to 
go  where  we  are  needed,  it  is  more  Christlike  to  go  where  we 
are  needed  the  most.  Is  there  anything  which  reason  and  con- 
science can  summon  which  would  take  issue  with  that  position? 
God  grant  that  we  may  step  into  the  footsteps  of  our  Lord,  to  go 
to  the  most  destitute  fields  of  our  own  country  and  the  great 
open  places  beyond!  May  God  move  the  parents  here  to-night 
not  only  not  to  interfere  and  hinder,  but  rather  to  facilitate  the 
favorable  decision  of  our  own  sons  and  daughters  to  enter  upon 
this  exalted  service!  O,  it  is  a  solemn  responsibility  for  any 
father  or  mother  in  these  days  to  do  anything  by  word,  or  other 
expression  or  attitude,  to  keep  a  son  or  a  daughter  who  is  quali- 
fied from  entering  upon  this  unutterably  important  work  of 
preaching  Christ  where  he  is  not  known.  What  a  responsibility ! 
I  misinterpret  the  spirit  of  this  gathering  if  there  is  any  father 
or  mother  here  who  would  do  this.  Rather,  in  the  spirit  of  God, 
who  spared  not  his  only  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  we 
shall  be  willing  to  make  this  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  us. 

I  have  one  word  of  appeal  to  the  pastors  here.  You  have  a 
unique  opportunity  to  go  back  and  influence  the  young  men  and 
the  young  women  in  your  Churches  to  devote  their  lives  to  for- 
eign missionary  service.  When  I  was  in  England  last  year  I 
learned  of  a  Church  of  three  hundred  members  that  within  ten 
years  had  furnished  thirty-two  missionary  volunteers,  and  of  that 
number  twenty  had  finished  preparation  and  were  already  on 
the  mission  field,  while  others  were  still  preparing  themselves. 
I  envied  their  pastor.  Think  how  he  has  multiplied  his  life. 
Think  what  we  also  may  do  to  help  support  missionaries  and  to 
influence  individual  members  in  our  congregations  to  go  to  those 
much  burdened  secretaries  of  our  Mission  Boards,  our  dearly  be- 
loved brothers,  with  gifts  to  the  Lord  of  a  thousand  dollars,  or 
five  hundred  dollars,  or  any  other  amount  they  are  able  to  give 
to  the  cause  to  build  up  the  fight  on  monetary  lines  as  well  as  on 
lines  of  offering  for  life  service. 

Let  each  pastor  have  the  true  conception  of  his  Church  as  not 
merely  a  field  to  be  cultivated,  but  also  as  a  force  to  be  wielded  on 
behalf  of  the  world's  evangelization.  And  my  final  word  is  to  us 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF   THE   YOUNG    PEOPLE.  283 

all.  Whether  God  calls  us  to  go  or  to  stay,  O  my  friends,  let  MOTT- 
each  one  of  us  resolve  that  he  will  act  as  if  he  were  the  only 
Christian  to  act.  That  has  never  led  the  Christian  into  error. 
Act  in  such  a  way  that  if  a  sufficient  number  of  men  and  women 
would  do  the  same  thing  we  could  take  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
with  faithfulness  and  thoroughness  to  the  hearing  of  every  crea- 
ture on  this  earth.  Let  each  one  act  for  himself.  Forget  the 
others.  If  you  feel  the  pressure  of  the  facts  and  the  impulse  of 
the  spirit  of  the  living  God,  be  serious  and  be  obedient.  It  is  a  toe  hour, 
great  thing  to  have  dealings  with  the  living  God.  Responsibility 
is  individual,  untransferable,  urgent.  Some  day  every  man  of  us 
must  pass  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  and  at  that  time 
we  shall  be  judged  not  by  what  some  one  else  did,  but  by  what  we 
did  to  serve  our  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God.  Responsi- 
bility is  not  only  individual  and  untransferable  ;  it  is  urgent. 

The  work  which  centuries  might  have  done 
Must  crowd  the  hour  of  setting  sun. 

"I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is 
day :  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work."  Therefore, 
friends,  in  view  of  the  awful  need  of  men  who  to-night  are  living 
without  Christ ;  in  view  of  the  infinite  possibilities  of  the  life  re- 
lated to  Christ  as  mighty  Saviour  and  risen  Lord ;  in  view  of  the  Co-workers 
magnitude  of  the  task  which  confronts  the  Church  of  this  gen-  with  Him' 
eration ;  in  view  of  the  impending  crisis  and  the  urgency  of  the 
situation  ;  in  view  of  the  conditions  which  favor  a  great  onward 
movement  within  the  Church  of  God ;  in  view  of  the  dangers  of 
anything  less  than  a  great  onward  movement ;  in  view  of  the 
great  cloud  of  witnesses  who  gathered  around  us  last  night,  of 
those  who  subdued  kingdoms  and  wrought  righteousness — yes, 
in  view  of  the  constraining  memories  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  and 
the  love  wherewith  he  hath  loved  us,  let  us  rise  and  resolve,  at 
whatever  cost  of  self-denial,  that  live  or  die,  we  shall  live  or  die 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  our  day. 


284  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

HOW  TO   MAKE  THE  EPWORTH   LEAGUE   MOST 
EFFECTIVE  AS  A  MISSIONARY  FORCE. 

MR.    S.    EARL  TAYLOR. 

IF  the  Epworth  League  is  to  be  made  most  effective  as  a  mis- 
sionary force,  there  will  be  a  chosen  few  in  each  Chapter  who  are 
missionary  enthusiasts;  those  who  have  met  God  face  to  face, 
and  who,  not  cumbered  about  much  serving,  are  willing  to  take 
time  to  sit  at  Jesus's  feet  and  to  hear  his  word.  These  will  con- 
stitute the  life  germ  of  the  society,  and  of  these  will  be  chosen 
the  members  of  the  Local  Missionary  Committee. 

There  will  be  a  live  chairman  for  this  committee ;  the  best  the 
society  affords.  No  mediocre  man  or  woman  can  lead  in  a  world 
enterprise.  Those  who  ''ought  to  have  a  place  somewhere"  may 
possibly  with  little  harm  work  on  some  other  committee,  but 
here  human  souls  are  in  the  balance.  The  committee  will  not  be 
too  large.  Four  or  five  members  will  do  more  work  than  twice 
that  number.  Each  member  should  be  made  responsible  for 
some  definite  duty ;  for  instance,  let  one  of  the  strongest  mem- 
bers be  responsible  for  the  monthly  missionary  meeting,  another 
for  advertising  and  circulating  the  library,  another  for  the  prayer 
topic  on  the  bulletin  board,  another  for  mission  study,  and  an- 
other for  promoting  scriptural  habits  of  giving.  The  chairman 
of  the  committee  will  supervise  the  whole  work,  and  will  see 
that  each  member  of  the  committee  attends  to  the  duties  as- 
signed him. 

Next  in  importance  to  careful  organization  is  the  preparation 
of  the  committee.  The  local  missionary  committee  should  by 
all  means  endeavor  to  secure  the  visit  of  a  student  missionary 
carnPaig'ner  or  a  member  of  the  district  missionary  committee 
at  the  time  when  the  work  is  first  organized,  and  at  least  once  a 
year  thereafter.  Each  member  of  the  committee  should  read 
"The  Missionary  Spoke  of  the  Epworth  Wheel"  and,  if  possible, 
"Fuel  for  Missionary  Fires."  The  members  should  also  famil- 
iarize themselves  with  the  books  of  the  Missionary  Campaign 
Library,  and  should  by  all  means  read  the  missionary  periodicals 
of  the  Church  and  use  the  helps  furnished  in  the  League  organ. 

The  committee  should  meet  monthlyfor  prayer  and  to  check  up 
the  work  that  has  been  done,  and  also  to  plan  for  a  further  ex- 
tension of  the  work.  A  prominent  Christian  Endeavor  worker 
recentlv  said  in  this  connection  :  "The  missionary  committee  has 


HOW   TO    MAKE   THE    LEAGUE    EFFECTIVE.  285 

business  enough  to  make  a  monthly  meeting  of  the  committee 
necessary ;  if  not,  it  should  have  a  meeting  to  find  something  to 
do."  The  entire  missionary  work  of  the  local  Chapter  will  come 
under  discussion  at  this  monthly  meeting  of  the  missionary  com- 
mittee. Among  other  phases  of  work,  the  following  may  be  con- 
sidered : 

The  Monthly  Missionary  Meeting. — In  making  the  Epworth 
League  a  missionary  force,  the  monthly  missionary  meet- 
ing is  a  strategic  point.  At  this  time  we  are  able  to  reach 
practically  the  entire  membership  of  the  League.  The  mis- 
sion study  class  will  attract  the  few.  The  missionary  library 
will  not  be  read  by  all ;  but  the  monthly  missionary  meet- 
ing, if  properly  advertised  and  prepared  for,  will  enable  the 
members  of  the  study  class  and  those  who  have  read  the  library 
and  the  enthusiast  on  the  missionary  committee  to  mass  the  bat- 
teries upon  the  indifferent  members  of  the  society,  who  must 
be  aroused  if  the  League  is  to  be  made  a  missionary  force.  Three 
years  ago  the  young  people  were  thrown  upon  their  own  re- 
sources for  topics  and  for  helps ;  but  now  monthly  topics  are 
printed  upon  the  regular  topic  cards  of  the  League,  and  there 
are  adequate  references  and  helps  furnished,  so  that  there  is  no 
excuse  for  a  dry  missionary  meeting. 

The  missionary  committee,  by  careful  planning  for  the  month- 
ly missionary  meeting,  may  avoid  monotony  in  leadership  and  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  programme.  They  may  enlist,  if  they 
desire,  two-thirds  of  the  membership  of  the  society  in  prepara- 
tion for  each  meeting  by  the  appointment  of  a  programme  com- 
mittee, a  committee  on  decorations,  ushers,  collectors,  etc.  In 
Montreal  a  Woman's  Society  has  for  years  conducted  monthly 
missionary  meetings  with  an  average  attendance  of  between  two 
and  three  hundred.  The  secret  of  their  success  is  that  no  meeting 
is  prepared  with  less  than  sixty  helpers,  carefully  distributed  on 
the  various  committees,  and  each  month  the  committees  are  re- 
arranged so  that  at  least  three  times  during  the  year  each  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  is  asked  to  do  some  service  in  connection  with 
the  monthly  missionary  meeting. 

By  careful  attention  to  the  following  details  the  committee 
will  help  to  make  the  monthly  missionary  meeting  one  of  real 
power:  They  will  see  to  it  that  the  meeting  is  prayerful,  and 
hence  devotional  in  spirit ;  that  it  exalts  Christ;  that  the  meeting 
is  carefullv  advertised  ;  that  suitable  charts  are  occasionally  used, 


286  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

and  also  a  missionary  map  of  the  world;  that  the  leadership  is 
effective;  and  that  the  meetings  begin  and  end  on  time. 

The  Mission  Study  Class  is  of  prime  importance.  That  man 
is  no  patriot  who  refuses  to  inform  himself  about  the  vital  is- 
sues of  his  country ;  for  when  voting  time  comes  he  will  either 
trample  the  birthright  of  freedom  under  his  feet,  or  else,  ig- 
norantly  using  it,  he  becomes  almost  as  a  madman  with  a  load- 
ed rifle.  Simple  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  demands  that  the  Chris- 
tian know  something  about  the  forward  movements  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  That  follower  of  Christ  who  can  glibly  tell  you  all 
about  recent  military  movements  in  the  far  East,  but  who  is  so 
ignorant  of  missions  that  he  will  believe  all  the  adverse  criti- 
cisms of  our  missionary  work  in  China,  is  crucifying  afresh  the 
Son  of  God.  As  with  the  monthly  missionary  meetings,  so  with 
the  study  class :  there  is  no  excuse  because  of  lack  of  helps. 

Three  years  ago  we  were  urging  the  young  people  to  study 
missions,  but  were  suggesting  no  study  courses,  and  many  young 
Ee]    for          people  who  really  desired  to  know  more  about  the  missionary 
study.  work  of  the  Church  were  as  helpless  as  a  collegian  would  be  if 

told  to  obtain  a  college  education  without  the  help  of  text-books 
or  instructors.  To-day,  however,  our  leaders  have  grasped  the 
situation,  and  are  not  only  providing  suitable  books,  but  they 
are  also  preparing  all  necessary  helps  for  study  class  work.  A 
successful  study  class  will  not  be  large.  The  question  of  leader- 
ship is  a  difficult  one,  but  the  experience  of  the  last  two  years, 
where  study  class  work  has  been  attempted,  is  proving  conclu- 
sively that  if  a  class  is  formed,  and  one  of  the  number  who  is  will- 
ing to  lead  in  hard  work  be  assigned  to  leadership,  and  if  ade- 
quate helps  for  the  leader  of  the  class  are  furnished,  the  class  will 
go  on  from  strength  to  strength.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
the  pastor  should  never  lead  the  mission  study  class,  except  in 
extreme  cases,  for  in  so  doing,  while  he  may  make  the  class  work 
interesting,  he  is  dwarfing  the  young  people  themselves,  and  is 
effectually  preventing  the  development  of  leadership.  A  success- 
ful study  class  will  have  a  lay  leader,  an  attractive  place  of  meet- 
ing, an  informal  and  flexible  programme,  a  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  mission  study,  and  each  member  of  the  class  will 
be  given  something  definite  to  do. 

Thf  Missionary  Library. — A  good  missionary  library  should 
be  in  each  Chapter  room  ;  and  if  the  League  is  to  be  a  missionary 
force,  this  library  must  be  widely  circulated.  Three  years  ago 


HOW   TO    MAKE   THE    LEAGUE    EFFECTIVE.  287 

no  missionary  library  suitable  for  young  people  was  obtainable  TAYLOR- 
without  much  labor  and  expense  on  the  part  of  the  local  mis- 
sionary committee. 

A  prominent  layman  in  the  North  went  to  various  publishing 
houses  and  asked  them  if  they  were  willing  to  publish  a  mis- 
sionary library  which  would  be  reasonable  in  price  and  which 
would  contain  the  best  missionary  books  for  young  people.  In 
each  case  the  publishers  replied  that  they  were  unwilling  to  pub- 
lish such  a  library  because  the  young  people  were  not  demanding 
missionary  books.  This  layman  then  decided  to  financially  back 
the  enterprise,  and  he  himself  arranged  for  the  publication  of 
a  library  of  sixteen  volumes  in  special  uniform  binding.  This 
was  called  the  Student  Missionary  Campaign  Library.  For  about 
four  months  very  few  of  these  libraries  were  sold,  but  this  lay- 
man  and  his  colaborers  believed  that  if  there  is  a  need  for  an 
article  a  demand  can  be  created.  By  judicious  advertising 
through  the  Student  Missionary  Campaigners,  the  first  edition 
of  five  hundred  sets  was  sold  within  six  months.  Since  that  time 
over  three  thousand  sets  have  been  sold,  and  they  are  scattered 
over  about  thirty-five  States  of  the  Union.  This  means  that  over 
forty-eight  thousand  volumes  of  choice  missionary  books  have 
been  placed  by  this  means  alone  in  the  hands  of  the  young  people 
of  the  Church  in  less  than  three  years'  time.  So  phenomenal  has 
been  the  demand  for  this  library  that  a  number  two  library  of 
twenty  volumes  has  been  published. 

It  has  been  easier  to  sell  the  library  than  it  has  to  get  the 
books  widely  circulated  and  read.  This  is  not  surprising  when 
\ve  remember  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  young  people  are 
reading  very  little  outside  the  lighter  form  of  literature.  By  the 
following  means,  however,  the  library  is  being  circulated  under 
the  supervision  of  energetic  missionary  committees.  The  pastor 
sometimes  preaches  a  biographical  sermon,  using,  for  instance, 
''The  Life  of  Livingstone"  as  his  subject.  He  then  recom- 
mends that  the  young  people  read  this  book,  telling  them  that 
it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Campaign  Library.  More  frequently  the 
pastor  will  use  striking  illustrations  from  the  missionary  library, 
and  will  tell  the  young  people  where  he  has  found  these  illustra-  How  to  get 
lions.  Sometimes  a  book  review  meeting  has  been  held,  when  tie  books  read. 
certain  members  of  the  society  briefly  review  some  of  the  more 
interesting  books.  Pledges  are  now  being  circulated  lor  vaca- 
tion reading.  One  pledge  reads  as  follows:  "I  will  endeavor  to 


288 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


An  illustra- 
tion. 


Prayer  and 
missions. 


read  during  the  next  three  months  the  missionary  books  on  the 
following  list  that  are  marked  with  a  cross.  I  request  the  mis- 
sionary committee  of  the  League  to  furnish  me  with  these  books 
as  soon  they  are  available."  (A  list  of  Campaign  Library  books 
then  follows.)  By  this  means  one  society  secured  sixty  pledges 
for  vacation  reading. 

One  young  lady  has  made  it  a  practice  for  years  to  use  her 
personal  influence  by  recommending  interesting  books  and  by 
lending  choice  biographies,  asking  her  friends  to  read  marked 
portions.  One  lady  who  had  thus  received  a  book  kept  it  over- 
time, but  stated  when  she  returned  the  book  that  sixteen  persons 
had  read  it  in  the  meantime.  In  a  few  cases  we  have  known  of  a 
public  dedication  of  the  Missionary  Library,  followed  by  a  sys- 
tem of  delivery  whereby  the  books  are  delivered  by  the  mission- 
ary committee  to  the  homes  of  the  members  at  stated  times.  One 
pastor,  in  making  his  pastoral  calls,  left  a  certain  book  in  homes 
he  desired  to  reach.  Whatever  means  is  used,  it  is  certain  that  a 
special  effort  must  be  made  to  get  those  to  read  who  have  never 
read  a  missionary  book.  It  is  better  to  get  one  such  person  to 
read  than  to  enlist  ten  who  are  already  interested. 

A  young  lady  recently  asked  a  bright  young  man  to  prepare 
an  address  on  Korea.  The  young  man  said  he  knew  nothing 
about  Korea,  and  that  he  had  no  interest  in  missions  whatever, 
but  he  finally  agreed  to  prepare.  He  read  four  books,  including 
"Korean  Sketches"  and  "Everyday  Life  in  Korea,"  and  then 
asked  that  the  meeting  be  postponed  two  months  in  order  that 
he  might  make  more  thorough  preparation.  He  then  wrote  to 
the  various  boards  for  all  the  pamphlets  on  Korea  obtainable, 
and  when  the  time  of  the  meeting  arrived  he  was  bubbling  over 
with  enthusiasm.  In  the  language  of  one  who  was  present,  "every 
one  felt  that  tliat  meeting  was  worth  while."  Later,  this  young 
man  sent  a  copy  of  "Korean  Sketches"  to  all  the  young  men  of 
his  Bible  class. 

In  no  respect  will  the  Epworth  League  be  a  greater  missionary 
force  than  in  the  realm  of  prayer.  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  pow- 
er, but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  More  than  any  other 
one  thing,  not  excepting  money,  do  the  missions  of  the  Church 
feel  the  need  of  an  ever-increasing  volume  of  prayer.  Prayer, 
definite,  earnest,  and  availing,  may  be  promoted  by  proper  means. 
Many  young  people's  societies  have  each  week  a  special  topic  for 
prayer  placed  on  the  regular  topic  card,  and  five  minutes  of  each 


HOW   TO    MAKE   THE    LEAGUE   EFFECTIVE.  289 

devotional   meeting  is   given  to  prayer  for  missions  and   mis-    TAYLOR- 
sionaries. 

A  young  people's  society  in  Ohio  has  a  large  missionary  map 
of  the  World,  and  from  the  local  center  lines  are  drawn  on  the 
map  so  as  to  radiate  to  the  various  mission  lands  where  repre- 
sentatives from  that  society  are  at  work.  In  Chicago  there  is  an 
interesting  map  of  the  world  placed  on  a  board  background,  and 
the  various  mission  stations  of  the  Church  are  indicated  by  little 

flags  with  the  names  of  the  missionaries  written  thereupon.    Such 

Examples, 
maps  give  definiteness  to  prayer.    In  Cambridge,  England,  there 

is  a  prayer  book  where  the  letters  from  missionaries  are  placed, 
and  where  special  requests  from  the  field  are  written.  Before 
each  meeting  the  leader  reads  briefly  these  special  requests  for 
prayer.  In  one  of  the  theological  seminaries  in  Virginia  there  are 
in  a  prayer  room  a  series  of  glass  cases  containing  the  photo- 
graphs of  the  missionaries  who  have  gone  out  from  the  school. 
One  missionary  committee  used  the  following  plan:  Pictures  of 
missionaries  were  clipped  from  the  various  denominational  peri- 
odicals, and  mounted  on  uniform  cards.  Brief  histories  of  the 
missionaries,  together  with  scriptural  quotations,  were  written 
on  the  backs  of  the  cards.  These  pictures  were  presented  to  each 
of  the  forty-seven  members  of  the  society  at  the  Christmas  meet- 
ing, and  at  that  time  each  one  was  asked  to  remember  his  mis- 
sionary each  day  during  the  quiet  hour,  and  the  society  agreed  to 
remember  them  often  in  prayer  at  the  public  meetings.  The 
Missionary  Committee  kept  the  members  informed  about  their 
individual  missionaries  by  cutting  out  from  the  denominational 
publications  articles  from  the  missionaries,  and  by  procuring  let- 
ters from  the  various  representatives.  In  June  there  will  be  a 
meeting  with  the  subject  "Our  Missionary."  when  each  member 
is  expected  to  tell  the  name  of  his  missionary  and  what  he  knows 
of  the  work  of  that  missionary. 

The  young  people's  society  should  by  all  means  bestir  itself 
to  promote  the  scriptural  habit  of  giving.  It  may  well  hold  a 
public  meeting  where  the  idea  of  Christian  stewardship  is  to  be  " 

fully  presented.  This  should  be  a  meeting  extraordinary,  and 
should  be  very  carefully  worked  up.  Preparations  should  be 
made  weeks  beforehand.  Members  should  be  asked  to  engage 
in  daily  prayer  that  the  meeting  may  be  especially  honored  of 
God.  A  special  card  may  be  printed  soliciting  prayer  and  in- 
viting attendance.  Leaders  should  be  carefully  selected,  and 
14 


290 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


District  or- 
ganization. 


should  have  placed  in  their  hands  literature  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject. In  this  meeting  especially,  let  us  ''attempt  great  things  for 
God,  and  expect  great  things  from  God." 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  pledges  may  be  taken  stating 
clearly  the  amount,  daily  or  weekly,  each  member  proposes  to 
give.  Dr.  Gordon  said :  "Human  nature  cannot  be  trusted  to 
carry  out  its  generous  impulses.  If  I  should  succeed  in  winding 
any  one  of  you  up  to  the  determination  to  do  generous  things, 
you  would  run  down  again  before  next  Sunday,  unless  your  reso- 
lution were  fastened  by  a  ratchet.  That  is  what  a  solemn  pledge 
to  pay  money  to  God  amounts  to,  a  ratchet  to  hold  us  up  to  the 
pitch  we  have  reached." 

The  public  meeting  may  be  followed  by  a  personal  canvass  by 
a  carefully  appointed  committee,  that  no  one  who  was  not  at  the 
meeting  may  be  overlooked,  and  that  those  who  canvass  may 
find  out  and  correct  erroneous  impressions  that  may  have  been 
given.  It  goes  without  saying  that  collections  of  payments  should 
be  made  regularly  and  promptly.  Whether  the  envelope  plan  is 
adopted  or  the  mite  box,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  a  great  respon- 
sibility is  upon  the  committee  to  see  that  the  payments  are  reg- 
ularly made.  Those  who  are  young  and  are  in  the  formative 
period  of  life  will  not  acquire  scriptural  habits  of  giving  without 
much  help. 

The  plans  which  have  been  suggested  above  in  outline  are 
workable,  and  have  been  proven  so,  but  they  will  not  work  them- 
selves. To  insure  the  success  of  the  local  committee,  a  district 
missionary  committee  should  be  organized  with  one  member  re- 
sponsible for  each  five  or  six  Chapters.  It  will  often  be  necessary 
to  supervise  the  district  work  by  a  Conference  organization,  and 
the  Missionary  Society  and  the  Epworth  League  headquarters 
must  be  alert  and  ever  ready  to  provide  missionary  topics  and 
outlines,  mission  study  course  and  helps,  missionary  library  and 
literature,  prayer  topics  and  prayer  cycles,  plans  for  systematic 
and  proportionate  giving,  and  a  never-ending  stream  of  helpful 
literature.  It  will  be  no  easy  task  to  arouse  our  legions  of  young 
people,  but  it  can  be  done  and  it  must  be  done,  and  he  who 
studios  the  signs  of  the  times  most  will  be  convinced  in  his  heart 
that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  tho  Epworth  Lea  true  will  be. 
in  truth,  a  real  and  adequate  missionary  force. 


MISSIONARY   TRAINING    AND    LITERATURE.  291 

MISSIONARY  TRAINING  AND  LITERATURE  FOR 
YOUNG  PEOPLE. 

MISS    BELLE   M.    BRAIN. 

GIVING  the  gospel  to  every  creature  is  the  greatest  work  in 
the  world.  The  young  people  of  every  denomination  should 
have  a  share  in  it,  not  only  to  prepare  them  for  the  responsibili- 
ties of  the  future,  but  also  because  the  actual  service  they  can  ren- 
der is  great  beyond  computation.  The  fifteen  million  scholars 
in  the  Sunday  schools  and  six  million  members  of  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies  are  a  mighty  factor  in  the  operations  of  the  Church. 

The  value  of  missionary  training  for  the  young  is  clearly  dem- 
onstrated by  the  experience  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  that  foremost 
of  all  missionary  Churches.  Moravian  children  are  trained  from 
infancy  in  the  belief  that  their  Church  exists  chiefly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  the  gospel  to  a  lost  world,  and  that  every  disciple 
must  do  his  part,  however  humble.  Note  the  result.  They  give 
one  member  out  of  every*  ninety-two  to  the  foreign  work,  while 
we — the  rest  of  Protestant  Christendom — give  one  out  of  every 
five  thousand ;  they  send  five  missionaries  abroad  to  every  min- 
ister at  home,  while  we  send  out  one  missionary  to  every  seventy- 
seven  ministers.  We  ''play  at  missions ;"  they  make  it  the  domi- 
nant purpose  of  their  lives. 

The  missionary  training  of  young  people  should  begin  first  of 
all  in  the  home.  Dr.  Pierson  says  :  "I  believe  there  ought  to  be 
education  in  missions  from  the  cradle,  and  then,  as  the  child's 
mind  and  heart  are  inspired  with  a  desire  for  the  uplifting  of  man- 
kind, the  fire  to  be  fed  with  fuel  appropriate  to  the  measure  of  the 
child's  intelligence."  Too  little  stress  is  laid  upon  this,  yet  a 
study  of  missionary  biography  shows  that  many  of  the  great  mis- 
sionary heroes  and  missionary  givers  of  the  world  gained  their  first 
love  of  missions  while  little  children  through  the  instruction  of 
their  parents  in  their  homes. 

The  history  of  missions  furnishes  no  more  beautiful  picture  of 
early  missionary  training  than  that  of  Alexander  Mackay.  Both 
parents  were  deeply  interested  in  missions,  especially  in  Africa,  ° 

where  Livingstone  was  making  his  great  explorations.  The 
"Proceedings"  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  came  regularly 
to  the  home,  and  works  of  Livingstone,  Speke,  and  Grant  were 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MISS  BRAIN.  purchased  as  soon  as  published.  On  a  map  in  his  study  the  father 
traced  for  his  boy  the  course  of  the  newly  discovered  rivers,  and 
discussed  with  him  the  part  missionaries  were  playing  in  the 
opening  up  of  the  great  continent. 

On  the  long  Sabbath  evenings,  when  the  father  was  preaching 
at  some  distant  kirk,  the  boy's  training  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
mother.  The  lessons  were  from  the  Bible  and  catechism,  but 
after  these  were  over,  if  they  had  been  well  learned,  the  mother's 
reward  was  some  thrilling  missionary  story  that  stirred  the  heart 
of  the  boy  and  fired  him  with  missionary  zeal.  Small  wonder 
is  it  that  he  became,  in  after  years,  the  hero  of  Uganda,  a  notable 
light  bearer  to  the  Dark  Continent  beyond  the  sea. 

In  this  matter  of  home  training,  English  workers  are  in  ad- 
vance of  us.  Missionary  alphabets  and  picture  books  are  pro- 
vided for  the  little  children  in  the  nursery,  and  missionary  games 
for  the  older  ones,  while  parents  are  urged  to  provide  at  least  the 
nucleus  of  a  missionary  library  for  their  sons  and  daughters  going 
out  into  the  world. 

From  the  home  the  child  passes  into  the  Sunday  school,  and 
a  little  later  into  the  Young  People's  Society.  It  is,  therefore, 
of  the  utmost  importance  that  these  two  great  training  schools 
of  the  Church  should  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  missionary 
spirit  and  actively  engaged  in  missionary  work. 

There  are  three  great  lines  along  which  the  young  people  in 
these  organizations  should  be  trained — three  great  missionary 
obligations  which  should  be  indelibly  impressed  upon  them. 
Bible  basis.  These  are  tersely  outlined  in  the  following  brief  Bible  reading: 
"Some  can  go"- -"Go  ye."  (Mark  xvi.  15.)  "Most  can  give" — 
"Give  ye."  (Matt.  xiv.  16.)  "All  can  pray" — "Pray  ye."  (Matt, 
ix.  38.) 

Some  of  the  young  people  in  your  Church  can  go.  You  know  not 
what  great  embryo  missionary  is  enrolled  a  member  of  your  Sab- 
bath school  or  Epworth  League.  Centuries  ago  a  quaint  old 
man  visiting  a  school  in  Germany  took  off  his  hat  and  bowed  low 
to  the  boys.  The  teacher  asked  in  surprise  why  he  did  so.  "Oh." 
lie  replied,  "I  do  not  know  what  mighty  man  may  yet  be  devel- 
oped from  among  them."  The  old  man  was  wise.  One  of  those 
lads  became  the  great  Martin  Luther. 

"We  need  to  realize  more  fully  the  tremendous  possibilities 
wrapped  up  in  the  young  lives  under  our  care.  Nearly  a  century 


MISSIONARY   TRAINING    AND    LITERATURE.  293 


MISS    BRAIN. 


ago  at  the  communion  season  in  an  old  Scotch  kirk  the  only  ad- 
dition to  the  Church  was  a  little  lad.     One  old  elder  was  greatly 
disturbed  over  this,  and  sadly  replied  when  asked  about  the  serv-  ,,  Wee 
ice:  "No  one  came  forward  save  wee  Bobbie  Moffat."     Little  we." 
did  he  guess  what  great  things  it  meant  for  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  Africa  when  Robert  Moffat  gave  himself  to  Christ ! 

Perhaps  among  the  scholars  in  your  Sunday  school  there  is  a 
"wee  Bobbie,"  whose  tender  heart  is  open  to  receive  the  divine 
impulse  that  by  and  by  will  send  him  forth  a  herald  of  the  cross. 
Perhaps,  too,  among  the  members  of  your  Epworth  League,  there 
are  young  men  and  women  standing  "where  two  ways  meet," 
questioning  what  life  work  to  choose,  and  unconsciously  waiting 
to  hear  the  call  of  God  to  such  service.  Be  faithful,  then,  in  pre- 
senting the  claims  of  the  mission  field,  and  "pray  ye  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest" 
from  your  Church. 

Most  of  tJie  young  people  in  your  Church  can  give.  The  beautiful 
custom  of  the  Hawaiian  mothers  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity 
in  the  island  shows  that  no  child  is  too  young  to  be  taught  to  give. 
Placing  a  bright  coin  in  her  baby's  hand,  the  mother  held  it  over  "5ive 
the  contribution  box.  If  the  tiny  fingers  held  on  to  the  shining 
piece,  she  gently  shook  it  until  it  fell,  with  a  merry  ring,  into  the 
box  below.  No  wonder  the  Hawaiian  Christians  became  such 
liberal  and  cheerful  givers. 

From  their  childhood  young  people  should  be  trained  to  regard 
money  as  a  trust,  and  themselves  as  God's  stewards.  It  is  said 
that  at  the  present  time  the  one  thing  that  hinders  the  progress 
of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  earth  is  the  lack  of  money.  Doors  are 
open  and  workers  are  ready  to  enter  them,  but  the  necessary 
funds  are  not  forthcoming.  By  inculcating  the  principles  of  pro- 
portionate and  systematic  giving  among  the  young  people,  and 
adopting  some  wise  system  of  collecting  funds,  not  only  would 
the  present  need  be  met,  but  the  foundations  be  laid  for  a  larger 
giving  by  and  by.  We  must  never  forget  that  in  the  ranks  of 
the  young  people  of  to-day  are  not  only  the  great  missionaries 
of  the  future,  but  also  the  great  missionary  givers — the  men  and 
women  who  will  have  the  control  of  the  money  power  of  the 
Church. 

All  of  the  young  people  in  your  Church  can  pray.     In  1871  Mrs. 


294 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS    BRAIN. 


" Pray  ye.' 


Th«  Mud  of 
prayer  need- 
ed. 


One  more 
command. 


John  G.  Paton  wrote  from  Aniwa  to  the  children  of  the  Day- 
spring:  "You  may  not  be  able  to  come  and  teach  the  heathen, 
or  even  give  money  to  help  them,  but  every  one  of  you  can  pray 
for  them  and  for  us." 

Here,  then,  is  something  that  every  one  of  God's  children,  no 
matter  how  humble.-  can  do  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  Dr.  A. 
C.  Thompson  says :  "Is  it  too  much  for  even  young  children  to 
plead  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  'Thy  kingdom  come,  thy 
will  be  done  in  earth  [in  all  the  earth]  as  it  is  in  heaven.'  " 

The  Jews  had  a  saying :  "He  prays  not  at  all  in  whose  prayers 
there  is  no  mention  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The  truth  of 
this  we  may  learn  from  a  study  of  that  model  prayer  our  Lord 
gave  to  his  disciples  when  they  asked  him  to  teach  them  to  pray. 
There  should  be  prayer  for  missions  at  every  session  of  the  Sun- 
day school,  at  every  meeting  of  the  Epworth  League.  A  native 
Christian  in  Persia  was  once  called  upon  to  lead  in  prayer.  When 
he  arose  from  his  knees  at  the  close  he  exclaimed  :  "God  forgive 
me  !  I  forgot  to  pray  for  Miss  Fiske's  school."  Kneeling  down 
again,  he  poured  forth  earnest  petitions  for  the  school.  Every 
Sunday  school  superintendent  and  Epworth  League  leader  who 
omits  to  pray  for  missions  has  need  to  cry  out,  "God  forgive  me  ! 
I  forgot  to  pray  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,"  and  at  once 
supply  the  omission. 

To  be  effectual,  prayer  for  missions  should  be  both  definite  and 
intelligent.  For  this  reason  young  people  should  be  urged  to  use 
a  prayer  cycle,  giving  special  topics  for  prayer  and  praise,  and  a 
prayer  calendar  giving  the  names  of  specific  workers  in  the  field. 
It  is  well,  too.  to  have  a  stated  time  for  daily  prayer  for  missions. 
For  this  purpose  the  noon  hour  observed  by  the  Student  Volun- 
teers is  probably  the  best.  Would  it  not  mean  great  things  for 
the  kingdom  of  God  if  the  ringing  of  the  noontide  bells  and  the 
blowing  of  the  twelve-o'clock  whistles  should  become  a  new  An- 
gelus,  calling  young  people  everywhere  to  pause,  if  only  for  a 
moment,  and  lift  their  hearts  to  God  in  earnest  petition  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world? 

In  addition  to  the  three  commands,  "Go,"  "Give,"  "Pray,"  there 
is  another  that  may  be  expressed  by  the  word  "Look."  One  of 
our  Lord's  commands  to  his  disciples  was  :  "Lift  up  your  eyes,  and 
look  on  the  fields."  Herein  is  our  scriptural  warrant  for  mis- 
sionary literature,  that  most  important  of  all  factors  in  the  mis- 


MISSIONARY    TRAINING    AND    LITERATURE.  295 


MISS   BRAIN. 


sionary  training  of  the  young.  "Looking  on  the  fields,"  which 
for  most  of  us  must  be  done  through  the  eyes  of  others,  is  es- 
sential to  an  active  interest  in  missions.  None  will  go,  few  will 
give,  and  fewer  still  will  pray  for  a  cause  of  which  they  know 
nothing.  If  missionary  fires  are  to  be  kindled  among  the  young 
people,  there  must  be  knowledge  to  supply  the  fuel,  and  knowl- 
edge must  be  gained  largely  through  the  medium  of  the  printed 
page. 

The  remarkable  growth  of  missionary  literature  during  the 
century  has  undoubtedly  been  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  mar- 
velous development  of  missionary  interest.  Speaking  of  the 
wealth  of  literature  now  accessible  to  the  Church,  Dr.  Pierson  literature. 
says  :  "When  Christ  gave  his  last  command  there  was  not  one 
Christian  book ;  even  the  first  gospel  narrative  was  not  yet  writ- 
ten. The  Church  for  nearly  a  century  had  no  literature,  and  had 
to  wait  fifteen  centuries  for  a  printing  press,  and  then  centuries 
more  for  any  missionary  literature  outside  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. To-day  missionary  magazines  and  reviews  throng  our 
mails ;  and  about  one-seventh  of  our  religious  publications  deal 
either  directly  or  indirectly  with  missions;  and  even  our  secular 
dailies  devote  columns  and  pages  to  the  subject." 

The  last  decade  of  the  century  was  especially  rich  in  its  contri- 
butions of  missionary  books.  Indeed  it  is  safe  to  say  that  a  ma- 
jority of  the  brightest  and  best  books  on  the  subject  have  been  is- 
sued within  the  last  ten  years.  This  is  clearly  proved  by  a  study 
of  the  list  of  one  hundred  best  books  on  missions  for  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies,  recently  prepared  by  Dr.  Sailer,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  strongly  indorsed  by  Marian  P.  Beach.  Xo  less  than  eighty 
of  the  books  on  this  list — four-fifths  of  the  whole  number — have 
been  issued  since  1890. 

Missionary  literature  in  its  broadest  sense  includes  not  only 
periodicals,  books,  and  tracts,  but  maps  and  charts  as  well.  In 
each  of  these  forms  God  has  set  the  seal  of  his  divine  approval 
upon  it  by  allowing  it  to  accomplish  great  tilings  for  the  cause. 

Carey  found  inspiration  in  the  crude  map  of  his  own  construc- 
tion that  hung  above  his  shoemaker's  bench,  and  Eliza  Agnew, 
when  but  eight  years  old.  decided  to  become  a  missionary  while 
listening  to  a  map  talk  given  by  her  teacher  in  a  day  school  in  Ma  sand 
New  York.     No  orator  at  the   Ecumenical   Conference   spoke   what  they 
more  powerfully  than  the  great  map  that  hung  above  the  platform   have  done- 


296 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MI6S   BRAIN. 


Charts 


Tracts. 


of  Carnegie  Hall,  its  great  dark  patches  revealing  how  much 
land  remaineth  yet  to  be  possessed  for  God. 

Every  Church  should  have  a  large  missionary  map  of  the 
world  and  use  it  at  every  missionary  meeting.  It  is  a  good  plan, 
as  the  different  fields  are  studied,  to  mark  the  mission  stations  in 
some  conspicuous  manner — by  a  red  cross,  gilt  letters,  or  silver 
star — so  that  it  is  possible  to  see  at  a  glance  just  where  mission- 
aries are  at  work  throughout  the  world. 

The  map  should  be  used,  too,  in  connection  with  prayer  for 
missions.  With  a  map  of  the  world  before  them  the  study  class 
of  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  one  of  our  larger  cit- 
ies recently  spent  an  hour  and  a  half  in  silent  prayer  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  taking  up  the  fields  one  by  one  as  they 
were  announced  by  the  leader,  until  they  girded  the  globe  with 
their  petitions. 

Too  little  use  is  made  of  charts  in  young  people's  meetings,  yet 
they  have  often  been  the  means  of  winning  workers  to  the  cause. 
A  student  in  a  Western  college  declared  that  the  black  squares  of 
the  "mute  appeal"  so  familiar  to  us  all  ''had  burned  their  way  into 
his  heart."  And  at  a  meeting  of  the  first  Student  Volunteers 
held  at  the  home  of  Robert  Wilder  at  Princeton,  when  one  of  them 
said  with  great  earnestness,  "Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen!"  John  Forman  exclaimed:  "I  know  why  Curtis 
feels  so.  Over  his  bed  hangs  a  chart  with  black  squares  repre- 
senting 856,000,000  heathen.  Any  man  sleeping  with  such  a 
chart  at  the  head  of  his  bed  must  decide  to  be  a  foreign  mission- 
ary, or  have  a  nightmare  every  night." 

Distributing  tracts  is  a  form  of  missionary  seed-sowing  that 
has  yielded  a  most  abundant  harvest.  The  tract,  "Shall  I  Go?" 
and  the  booklet,  "Do  Not  Say,"  have  sent  many  a  missionary  to 
the  foreign  field;  "Money  and  the  Kingdom,"  "What  We  Owe/' 
and  "Thanksgiving  Ann"  have  converted  hundreds  of  pocket- 
books  and  poured  thousands  of  dollars  into  missionary  treasur- 
ies; "Prayer  and  Missions"  has  influenced  many  to  pray  regularly 
for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom;  and  "God's  Box,"  "The  Box 
fiom  St.  Mark's,"  and  ''Brothers  in  Christ"  have  sent  many  a 
check  to  home  mission  treasuries  and  many  a  well-filled  box  to 
overworked  and  underpaid  missionaries  in  our  home  land. 

Missionary  periodicals  are  absolutely  indispensable.  Through 
their  medium  alone  can  we  watch  the  progress  of  the  work  and 


ATIS3    BRAIN. 


MISSIONARY    TRAINING    AND    LITERATURE.  297 

keep  in  touch  with  the  missionaries  on  the  field.     The  greatest 

problem  is  how  to  get  them  to  read.     A  plan  that  has  worked  well 

.    .       .     .  Periodicals, 

in  some  of  our  Northern  societies  is  to  assign  a  special  missionary 

to  each  member.  Then  at  the  monthly  meetings  the  roll  is  called, 
the  members  responding  by  giving  the  names  of  the  missionaries 
and  late  items  about  their  work.  This  necessitates  a  study  of 
the  magazines. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  surest  way  to  beget  missionary  interest 
in  the  hearts  of  young  people  is  to  induce  them  to  read  mission- 
ary books.  Edward's  "Life  of  Brainerd"  made  Henry  Martyn  a 
missionary  ;  together  with  Martyn's  own  memoirs,  it  gave  inspira- 
tion to  Robert  Murray  McCheyne's  saintly  life.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  stories  of  the  South  Sea  is- 
landers in  Cook's  ''Voyages"  not  only  fed  Carey's  growing  inter- 
est in  the  salvation  of  the  world,  but  inspired  a  great  wave  of  mis- 
sionary enthusiasm  throughout  Great  Britain  which  found  ex- 
pression in  the  purchase  of  the  Duff,  and  the  sending  forth  of  the 
first  band  of  twenty-five  missionaries  to  the  islands  of  the  south- 
ern seas.  In  our  own  day  the  "Autobiography  of  John  G.  Paton" 
has  not  only  sent  many  missionaries  to  the  field,  but  inspired  mis- 
sionary interest  in  the.  hearts  of  thousands  of  indifferent  Chris- 
tians at  home. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  in  connection  with  young  peo- 
ple's work  in  the  last  few  years  has  been  the  wide  circulation  of 
missionary  books.  It  was  stated  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference 
that  "within  eighteen  months  forty  thousand  volumes  of  the  best 
missionary  literature  obtainable  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  young  people,"  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 

As  in  the  case  of  missionary  periodicals,  the  great  problem  is 
how  to  get  these  books  read  and  studied.  Wherever  the  interest 

is  sufficient  the  problem  can  be  solved  bv  the  formation  of  read-  ^rou*in£ 

interest. 

ing  circles  and  study  clubs.  But  where  little  or  no  interest  is 
manifested  other  methods  must  be  used,  and  an  appetite  for  mis- 
sionary reading  created.  Here  are  i  lew  practical  plans  that  may 
prove  helpful : 

T.  Print  lists  of  all  the  missionary  books  available  (in  the  Sun- 
day school  library,  public  library,  etc.V  Distribute  these  among 
the  young  people  and  ask  them  to  read  a  given  number  in  a  given 
time — two  books  during  the  summer  vacation,  or  one  everv  three 


298 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS   BRAIIt. 


Suggestions. 


Fire  as  well 
as  fuel 


months.    Keep  a  record  of  all  books  read,  either  in  a  blank  book 
or  on  a  list  kept  hanging  on  the  wall. 

2.  Make  short,  bright  reviews  of  interesting  books  a  feature 
of  the  missionary  programme. 

3.  When   new  books   are   added   to   the   library   give   "book 
notices"  of  them  at  the  meetings,  calling  attention  to  their  most 
attractive  features. 

4.  Have  selections  from  famous  missionary  books  read  at  the 
regular  meetings,  and  at  missionary  socials.     For  the   regular 
meetings  nothing  could  be  more  interesting  than  such  stories  as 
"The  Sinking  of  the  Well,"  from  the  "Autobiography  of  John  G. 
Paton ;"  ''God  on  the  Rock,"  from  "On  the  Indian  Trail,"  by  Eg- 
erton  R.  Young;  and  "In  the  Tiger  Jungle,"  the  first  sketch  in 
Dr.  Chamberlain's  well-known  book.     For  the  missionary  social 
nothing  could  be  more  entertaining  than  "The  Korean  Boy,"  or 
"The   Korean   Pony,"   from   Gale's   "Korean    Sketches;"   "Nel- 
wang's  Elopement,"  from  the  "Autobiography"  of  Dr.  Paton ; 
"The   Spotted  Tiger   Foiled,"   from   "The    Cobra's    Den;"    and 
"Mackay  as  Undertaker,"  from  "Mackay  in  Uganda,"  by  his  sis- 
ter. 

5.  Select  three  stirring  missionary  books,  and  ask  three  per- 
sons each  to  read  one  of  them  and  give  at  the  meeting  the  most 
thrilling  incident  recorded   in   it.     For  another  meeting  select 
five  missionary  biographies  and  ask  five  persons  to  read  them 
and  give  the  greatest  lessons  to  be  learned  from  the  lives  of  the 
missionaries.     For  still  another  meeting  ten  persons  might  be 
asked  to  read  ten  books  and  give  very  briefly  instances  of  an- 
swered prayer  found  in  them. 

In  considering  the  value  of  missionary  literature  in  training 
the  young  we  have  called  it  the  fuel  by  which  the  missionary  fires 
are  to  be  sustained.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  fuel,  necessary 
as  it  is,  will  not  kindle  a  fire :  there  must  also  be  a  spark.  For 
this  \ve  must  depend  upon  the  Word  and  the  Spirit,  with  prayer 
to  fan  the  flame. 

Helpful  as  is  the  campaign  library  of  the  Student  Volunteers, 
and  the  conquest  library  of  the  Christian  Endeavorers,  there  is, 
as  I  once  heard  a  young  pastor  say.  "a  library  far  more  valuable 
than  either  of  these — a  library  of  sixty-six  small  books,  usually 
bound  together  as  one  great  book,  which  has  been  the  inspiration 


MISSIONARY    TRAINING    AND    LITERATURE.  299 

of  every  missionary  and  missionary  worker  since  the  world  be-  MISS  BRAIN- 
gan." 

Too  little  use  has  been  made  of  the  Bible  in  the  missionary 
training  of  the  young-.  They  should  be  taught  the  great  scrip- 
tural foundations  upon  which  missionary  operations  rest ;  the  re- 
wards promised  to  those  who  engage  in  missionary  work,  and  the 
danger  of  neglecting  it;  and  the  great  promises  and  prophecies 
by  which  the  ultimate  triumph  of  world-wide  missions  is  as- 
sured. Then  would  they  become  strong  workers,  not  shaken  by 
any  temporary  \vinrl  of  adversity  that  threatens  annihilation  of 
the  mission  cause,  but  standing  firm  in  the  belief  that  the  day  will 
surely  come  when  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  shall  have  "become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ." 


Section  VII. 

FROM  VARIOUS  STANDPOINTS. 


THE  MISSIONARY  PHASE  OF  CHURCH  EXTENSION. 

REV.  P.  H.  WHISNER,  D.D. 

THE  Board  of  Church  Extension  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
was  organized  by  the  General  Conference  of  1882  in  the  city  of 
Nashville.  Rev.  Dr.  David  Morton  was  elected  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  managed  the  affairs  of  the  Board  with  marvelous 
success  for  almost  sixteen  years.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  contemplated  raising  and  administering  sepa- 
rately a  general  fund  to  be  donated  to  the  needy  Churches,  and 
a  fund  to  be  loaned  to  such  Churches  as  should  apply  and  be 
thought  capable  of  returning  the  loan.  The  general  fund  contrib- 
uted by  the  Church  in  eighteen  years  amounts  to  $884,789.84,  to 
which  we  must  add  $42,668.13  raised  as  specials.  Of  this,  $811,- 
242  has  been  donated  to  Churches.  The  loan  fund,  which  has 
been  contributed  by  benevolent  members  of  the  Church  for  the 
most  part  in  unconditional  gifts,  but  in  some  cases  on  an  annuity 
plan  which  was  authorized  by  the  General  Conference  of  1886  at 
Richmond,  Va.,  amounts  now  to  $182,933.14,  and  from  it  loans 
have  been  made  to  Churches  amounting  to  $345,760. 

The  donations  ($811,242)  and  the  loans  ($345,760)  make  a 
sum  total  of  $1,157,002  appropriated  to  Churches  in  eighteen 
years.  Of  these  amounts,  $169,426  has  been  donated  to  Church- 
es in  Mission  Conferences,  and  $50,135  has  been  loaned  in  Mis- 
sion Conferences. 

We  have  in  these  Mission  Conferences,  according  to  the  Gen- 
eral Minutes,  599  Churches  and  have  aided  by  donations  or  loans 
435,  or  nearly  four-fifths  of  them.  These  Churches  are  valued  at 
$1,041,987,  and  these  donations  and  loans  to  them  amount  to 
$219.561 ,  which  is  more  than  one-fifth  of  their  value. 

The  arrangement  made  at  the  organization  of  this  Board,  by 
which  it  was  provided  that  one-half  of  the  money  raised  in  any 


MISSIONARY    PHASE   OF    CHURCH    EXTENSION.  3OI 

Annual  Conference  should  be  appropriated  in  the  Conference  WHISN«*- 
by  the  Conference  Board  of  Church  Extension,  looks  as  if  it  were 
intended  that  the  half  paid  over  to  the  General  Board  should  be 
appropriated  in  the  weak  places,  or  in  other  words  in  the  Mission 
Conferences,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Board  has  aimed,  as  Giftstothe 
far  as  is  expedient,  to  carry  out  that  intention;  and  yet  it  has  weak;  loans 
not  ignored  the  applications  that  have  come  from  the  stronger  to  the  strong. 
Conferences,  but  has  done  a  very  important  service  in  many  cases 
in  all  of  them.     It  will  very  likely  more  and  more  seem  \vise  to 
the  Board  to  increase  the  proportion  of  donations  in  the  Mission 
Conferences  and  to  reduce  the  proportion  of  loans  to  them,  and 
on  the  other  hand  to  increase  the  proportion  of  loans  in  the 
larger    Conferences    and    reduce    the    proportion    of    donations, 
so  that  the  proportionate  service  of  the  Board  to  the  Mission 
Conferences  is  very  likely  to  constantly  increase.     The  motto  of 
this  organization  is  and  must  ever  be  :  "A  Church  for  Every  Con- 
gregation." 

We  have  now,  according  to  the  minutes  of  1899,  17,889  socie- 
ties and  14,305  churches,  which  leaves  3,584  societies  without 
houses  of  worship,  and  527  of  these  are  in  the  Mission  Conferences, 
and  this  does  not  include  Cuba  and  Korea.  The  necessity  for  a 
house  of  worship  for  every  congregation  is  imperative.  There 
is  no  possibility  of  success  in  our  Church  work  anywhere  without 
a  house  of  worship.  We  may  begin,  but  we  cannot  successfully 
continue.  It  cannot  be  done  in  our  own  land  or  in  any  foreign 
field. 

This  statement  has  many  illustrations  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Our  Methodist  people  have  often  contented  themselves 
without  a  house  of  worship  till  some  other  denomination  has 
come  in  and  built  the  first  church  in  the  neighborhood  and  se- 
cured an  advantage  which  should  have  been  ours.  The  state  of  value  of  a 

our  Church  in  the  citv  of  Baltimore  serves  to  show  the  inestimable   honse  of»wor- 

shlp. 

value  of  church  buildings.  At  the  close  of  the  civil  war  the  prop- 
erty was  all  in  the  hands  of  the  M.  E.  Church;  and,  while  very 
many  of  the  people  were  in  hearty  sympathy  with  us,  only  the 
very  faithful  few  were  willing  to  leave  their  church  "buildings  and 
come  with  us  and  build  anew.  There  can  scarcely  be  a  question 
but  that  the  proportionate  strength  of  the  two  Churches  would 
have  been  vastly  changed  if  we  had  had  even  an  equal  advantage 
with  them  in  the  matter  of  houses  of  worship.  The  history  of 


3O2  GENERAL    MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

the  relations  of  the  two  Methodisms  in  East  Tennessee  and  the 
conflict  between  them  during  the  last  thirty-five  years,  out  of 
which  we  are  just  now  beginning  to  come  with  victory  on  our 
banners,  is  also  a  forceful  illustration  inasmuch  as  it  is  perfectly 
evident  that  that  contest  would  have  been  of  short  duration  and 
our  victory  would  long  ago  have  been  complete  but  for  the  fact 
that  the  opposition  had  secured  possession  of  much  of  the  prop- 
erty. The  following  quotations  from  Bishop  Marvin  on  church- 
building  serve  further  to  illustrate  this  point.  Of  building 
churches  he  says :  "It  is  piety  and  Christian  policy  combined. 
The  spiritual  family  must  be  domiciled."  In  regard  to  the  state 
of  our  Church  in  Kentucky  in  the  early  seventies,  he  said  in  an- 
swer to  the  question,  how  is  it  after  that  magnificent  country 
has  been  evangelized  by  such  preachers  as  lived  and  wrought  in 
those  days,  that  in  our  day  the  battle  has  to  be  fought  over  again? 
"They  did  not  garrison  the  country  as  they  conquered  it.  School- 
house  churches,  courthouse  churches,  and  especially  union 
churches  have  been  of  untold  disadvantage  to  our  cause  in  Ken- 
tucky. Everything  that  establishes  itself  and  maintains  its  foot- 
ing in  the  world  must  be  domiciled,  put  between  four  walls  and 
under  a  roof;  it  must  not  lie  around  loose.  If  it  is  too  feeble  to 
get  itself  to  the  fire,  somewhere,  nothing  can  save  it ;  out  in  the 
cold  and  in  the  tempest,  it  must  perish,  and  a  thing  so  feeble, 
with  so  little  vitality,  will  die  readily ;  there  can  be  no  great  power 
of  resistance,  no  great  tenacitv  of  life.  I  have  known  healthv 

Bishop 

Marvin.  Churches  that  had  no  better  places  than  private  houses  or  school- 

houses  to  meet  in.  They  were,  however,  in  new  regions  of  coun- 
try, recently  settled,  and  were  young  Churches  that  had  not  gath- 
ered resources ;  but  I  never  did  know  a  Church  that  attempted 
that  fugitive  sort  of  existence  as  a  permanency  that  did  not  fall 
into  decay.  I  never  knew  a  Church  in  the  midst  of  a  prosperous 
community  to  thrive  without  providing  a  permanent  and  respect- 
able house  of  worship.  In  a  house  either  too  small  or  too  shab- 
by to  be  respectable,  it  gives  evidence  of  one  of  two  facts :  either 
that  it  is  feeble  in  numbers  or  that  religion  has  a  hold  on  the  con- 
sciences and  hearts  of  its  members  altogether  too  slight  for  re- 
productive power.  It  will  soon  do  better  or  become  extinct ;  its 
lack  of  proper  architectural  expression  is  a  sign  of  dissolution ; 
there  is  not  life  sufficient  to  maintain  itself.  There  is  a  law  prev- 
alent in  human  society  everywhere  which  dooms  the  Church  to 


MISSIONARY    PHASE   OF    CHURCH    EXTENSION.  303 

comparative  stagnation  wherever  it  fails  to  provide  itself  with  the    WHISKER. 
external  conditions  of  prosperity.    There  is  something  powerfully 
conservative  in  real  estate  title.    Anchor  a  church  in  the  soil,  and 
you  add  greatly  to  its  fixity  and  tenacity ;  it  will  bear  a  much 
heavier  strain  than  it  could  otherwise  do." 

A  house  of  worship  is  important  not  simply  for  the  reasons 
thus  given,  but  there  is  an  inspiration  for  the  worshiper  which 
our  humanity  very  greatly  needs.  Who  can  measure  the  influence 
and  the  inspiration  that  come  to  one  who  takes  his  seat  in  a  pew 
once  occupied  by  a  now  sainted  father  or  mother,  who  looks 
around  upon  walls  that  have  echoed  the  songs  of  Zion  from  the 
lips  of  loved  ones  gone  before,  who  looks  up  into  a  pulpit  from 
which  have  come  those  warnings  and  invitations  that  have  led  to 
repentance  and  salvation,  and  those  consolations  that  have  com- 
forted in  times  of  sorrow  and  encouraged  in  times  of  despondency 
and  have  served  as  helps  to  faithfulness  and  dutifulness  in  any  and 
all  the  conditions  of  life?  Reverence  for  a  place  of  worship  is  a 
very  important  element  in  human  piety  which  must  necessarily 
be  absent  from  those  who  have  had  to  submit  to  the  want  of  a 
church.  It  is  evidently  not  the  will  of  God  that  any  of  his  people 
should  be  without  the  advantage  which  a  place  of  worship  can 
give.  The  influence  of  Bethel  and  the  use  God  made  of  it  to  bless 
Jacob  serve  to  enforce  and  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  utterance. 

If  it  could  be  assumed  that  the  Lord  was  willing  to  leave  any 
congregation  without  a  church  building,  it  would  seem  that  he 
would  have  indicated  it  in  the  case  of  the  Israelites  when  on  their 
way  from  Egypt  to  Canaan.  Instead  of  this,  however,  he  calls 
one-twelfth,  approximately,  of  the  population  away  from  every 
other  service  which  they  might  have  rendered,  and  confines  them 
to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle.  He  holds  the  whole  multitude 
in  one  position,  stopping  the  whole  movement  toward  Canaan  a 
full  year  till  the  few  skilled  workmen,  who  are  made  skillful  by 
divine  intervention,  can  build  a  tabernacle. 

Surely  no  reader  of  the  history  of  Israel  can  assign  to  any  other 
feature  of  their  history  an  importance  that  will  in  any  degree 
compare  with  the  history  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  ark  and  the 
Levitical  and  priestly  service.  The  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of 

fire  bv  nicfht  rested  on  the  tabernacle.     And  when  these  lifted,  the  1 

tabernacle. 

tabernacle  must  first  follow.     However  fierce  the  battle,  however 
mighty  the  foe,  one-twelfth  (the  whole  tribe  of  Levi)  of  the  men  of 


3O4  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

Israel  were  at  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  and  not  one  of  them 
could  bear  sword  in  any  event. 

This  furnishes  us  a  lesson,  too,  as  to  the  expensiveness  of  the 
Church.  Many  of  our  people  think  the  demands  of  the  Church 
upon  their  time  and  means  are  excessive,  but  there  is  no  Chris- 
tian Church  of  any  denomination  that  makes  as  large  demands  as 
did  the  Jewish.  The  most  costly  religions  known  to  mankind 
were  the  heathen.  The  Jewish  was  far  less  so,  and  the  Christian 
far  less  than  the  Jewish,  and  of  the  Christian  denominations  there 
never  has  been  one  whose  demands  were  more  reasonable  and 
less  excessive  than  the  demands  of  the  Methodist  Church.  We 
ask  nothing  whatever  as  a  contribution  to  superstition  or  vanity. 
The  demands  of  our  Church  are  exclusively  for  what  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men. 

In  our  Mission  Conferences,  as  well  as  in  those  that  are  not  mis- 
sions, there  is  and  must  be  a  constant  increase  in  the  number  of 
organized  societies,  and  consequently  a  constant  demand  for  new 
churches.  Rented  places  are  always  costly  and  always  temporary 
and  always  unsuitable.  If  the  wisest  thing  could  always  be  done, 
every  mission  would  be  provided  with  the  means  of  securing  a  sub- 
stantial church  building  at  every  point  where  a  society  has  been 
organized,  and  in  some  cases  in  advance  of  the  organization  and 
as  a  means  of  effecting  an  organization. 

It  is  and  has  ever  been  an  embarrassment  in  our  mission  fields 
that  we  have  not  provided  our  Church  Extension  treasury  with 
the  means  with  which  to  cooperate  with  the  Mission  Board  to  the 
full  extent  of  their  need.  A  missionary  without  a  house  of  wor- 
ship and  without  the  means  to  procure  one  is  at  a  disadvantage 
which  not  only  serves  to  embarrass  him  and  retard  his  progress, 
but  gives  occasion  to  those  he  seeks  to  influence  to  lose  all  proper 
appreciation  of  his  ability  to  bless  them. 

These  statements  are  not  intended  to  advance  the  material 
work  of  the  Church  at  the  expense  of  the  spiritual.  It  is  not  un- 
usual to  claim  that  spirituality  is  the  one  need  of  the  Church,  and 
I  not  only  admit  but  assert  the  necessity  of  spirituality  in  the 
Church,  and  the  more  I  have  to  do  with  the  material  interests  of 
the  Church  the  more  fully  do  I  appreciate  the  spiritual  side  of 
Christian  life.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  spiritual 
life  does  not  depend  exclusively  on  prayer  and  spiritual  worship, 


MISSIONARY    PHASE    OF    CHURCH    EXTENSION.  305 

but  along  with  these  and  of  equal  necessity  is  dutifulness  at  every  W["S*ER- 
point  of  personal  obligation. 

A  religion  that  consists  of  singing  psalms  and  making  prayers, 
and  fails  to  recognize  the  moral  obligation  to  be  a  blessing  to  the 
world  by  serving  the  cause  of  God  as  we  may  have  opportunity, 
is  of  very  little  value  for  this  life  or  the  next.  It  is  our  privilege 
to  sing  with  joy  when  we  are  faithful,  and  to  have  access  to  the 
mercy  seat  in  prayer;  but  if  we  undertake  to  substitute  song  and 
prayer  for  faithful  service,  we  will  soon  find  that  the  spirit  of  wor- 
ship will  not  abide  with  us,  and  finally  will  find  that  no  heavenly 
rewards  await  us. 

The  need  of  the  times  is  not  simply  a  church  for  every  congre- 
gation, but  a  suitable  church  for  every  congregation.     It  is  evi-  A  churcll  for 
dent  that  very  many  of  our  churches  do  not  meet  the  needs  of  the  every 
congregations  and  ought  to  be  substituted  by  better.     There  8 
should  not  only  be  a  suitable  audience  room,  but  also  suitable 
and  ample  arrangements  for  Sunday  school  and  Epworth  League. 
Nothing  less  than  this  can  be  regarded  as  satisfactory  for  our 
people.     The  future  success  of  the  Church  depends  largely  upon 
the  promptness  with  which  we  provide  the  need.     It  is  a  stand- 
ing appeal  to  the  liberality  and  enterprise  of  our  people.     It  calls 
loudly  for  the  adoption  of  Mr.  West's  rule  to  make  all  you  can, 
and  save  all  you  can,  and  give  all  you  can. 

There   are   two  very   difficult   practical   problems   before   the 
Church  in  this  connection.     First,  the  maintenance  of  our  country 
work,  from  which  many  of  the  most  enterprising  and  thrifty  mem- 
bers are  withdrawn  by  the  present  movement  of  the  population  to  TW« 
the  cities.     Many  strong  country  Churches  are  weakening  from  p 
this  cause.     The  state  of  society  in  much  of  our  territory  demands 
the  concentration  of  residences  for  the  purpose  of  protection. 
Secondly,  the  demand  created  by  the  very  rapid  growth  of  city 
population,  which  makes  it  very  necessary  to  increase  our  facili- 
ties for  saving  souls  in  these  centers  of  vice  as  well  as  of  virtue. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  problems,  it  is  evident  that  good,  sub- 
stantial church  buildings  are  a  necessity  to  its  proper  solution. 
Communities  for  miles  around  can  be  made  to  concentrate  on  a 
good  church  well  located.  A  shabby  church  will  not  interest  any 
except  possibly  those  who  provided  it,  and  these  will  have  but  lit- 
tle influence  with  capable  people.  The  shabby  church  will  rap- 
idly become  more  so,  and  the  congregation  will  soon  become  as 


306 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


shabby  as  the  church.  There  is  certainly  no  hope  of  Church  suc- 
cess among  young  Americans  in  a  shabby  church.  A  decent 
church  building  is  a  religious  necessity  in  every  neighborhood  in 
our  land  or  any  other  land  where  we  may  hope  to  serve  the  cause 
of  Christ  with  any  good  degree  of  success.  The  pious  energies 
of  the  good  people  of  any  community  must  have  a  rallying  point, 
a  center  of  influence  from  which  to  radiate :  a  house  of  God  wor- 
thy of  the  name. 

As  to  the  second  problem,  proper  provision  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  cities,  our  people  in  every  city  must  learn  to  regard 
themselves  as  a  unit.  They  must  be  members  of  different  pas- 
toral charges  but  of  one  Church.  The  whole  body  built  the  first 
church  in  the  city;  why  not  the  whole  body  build  the  second,  and 
the  third,  and  so  on  ?  The  organization  of  City  Boards  of  Church 
Extension,  as  provided  by  the  General  Conference  of  1886,  looks 
to  the  concentration  of  the  whole  force  of  the  Church  in  a  city 
upon  every  new  enterprise  that  may  be  undertaken.  Too  often 
a  few  devoted  members,  seeing  the  necessity  of  a  second  church, 
go  to  work  to  secure  it,  and  find  themselves  embarrassed  by  a  com- 
bined effort  on  the  part  of  the  first  Church  to  prevent  a  proper  di- 
vision of  the  congregation,  and  sometimes  even  to  prevent  those 
from  aiding  the  work  who  would  otherwise  do  so.  Such  ought 
not  to  be  the  case.  Those  who  propose  to  constitute  the  first 
Church,  which  has  its  house  already  built  and  paid  for,  should  help 
to  build  the  second  house,  and  not  leave  a  feeble  fraction  of  the 
Church  in  the  city  to  do  what  they  may  not  be  able  to  do,  and 
thereby  make  the  second  Church  to  lead  a  feeble  existence  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  far!  in  its  purpose.  Such  a  course  accounts  in 
many  of  our  cities  for  the  fact  that  we  have  weak  mission  chapels 
instead  of  strong  city  Churches. 

The  tendency,  too,  in  our  city  Churches  is  to  withdraw  from  all 
but  those  portions  of  the  city  where  the  best  residences  are  situ- 
ated. This  tendency  must  be  checked.  A  good,  large,  substan- 
tial church  in  the  business  portion  of  the  city  is  of  untold  value  to 
the  cause.  The  same  is  true  of  the  poorer  portions  of  the  city. 
The  poorer  the  people,  the  larger  is  the  number  necessary  for  the 
support  of  a  Church,  and  usually  that  class  of  people  are  pecul- 
iarly susceptible  to  the  influence  of  numbers.  Little  mission 
Churches  in  our  large  cities  do  not  give  promise  of  the  success 


MISSIONARY   PHASE   OF   CHURCH    EXTENSION.  307 

which  the  cause  demands.     O  for  wisdom  from  above  to  man-   WHISNER- 
age  the  work  of  God  in  the  cities ! 

The  readjustments  needed  in  our  country  work  and  the  sup- 
ply of  the  growing  demands  of  our  city  mission  work  call  for 
large  self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  all  the  good  people  of  the 
Church.  The  more  promptly  these  readjustments  are  made  and 
these  city  demands  are  met,  the  more  of  success  will  await  the  Readjustment! 
Church.  Delay  in  these  matters  is  both  dangerous  and  costly.  ln  home  nus" 

J  .  J      sion  work. 

To  say  that  we  are  not  able  is  to  ignore  the  precedents  to  be 
found  in  the  Bible  and  even  in  the  history  of  our  own  denomina- 
tion. We  are  not  in  the  embarrassing  situation  that  confronted 
Zerubbabel  when  Haggai  and  Zechariah  were  sent  to  warn  and 
encourage  him  and  his  people,  and  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  heed 
both  the  warnings  and  encouragements  that  God,  who  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  sent  to  them  and  which 
are  equally  applicable  to  us.  I  quote  a  few  passages.  While 
they  wait  and  do  not  work  they  are  addressed  in  these  and  other 
equally  weighty  warnings :  "Ye  looked  for  much,  and,  lo,  it  came 
to  little ;  and  when  ye  brought  it  home,  I  did  blow  upon  it.  Why  ? 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Because  of  mine  house  that  is  waste,  and 
ye  run  every  man  into  his  own  house.  Therefore  the  heaven  over 
you  is  stayed  from  the  dew,  and  the  earth  is  stayed  from  her  fruit. 
And  I  called  for  a  drought  upon  the  land,  and  upon  the  mountains, 
and  upon  the  corn,  and  upon  the  new  wine,  and  upon  the  oil,  and 
upon  that  which  the  ground  bringeth  forth,  and  upon  men,  and 
upon  cattle,  and  upon  all  the  labor  of  the  hands."  These  warn- 
ings produce  the  following  results  :  "Then  Zerubbabel  .  .  . 
and  Joshua,  .  .  .  with  all  the  remnants  of  the  people, 
obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord  their  God,  and  the  words  of  Haggai 
the  prophet,  as  the  Lord  their  God  had  sent  him,  and  the  people 
did  fear  before  the  Lord.  Then  spake  Haggai  the  Lord's  messen- 
ger in  the  Lord's  message  unto  the  people,  saying,  I  am  with  you, 
saith  the  Lord."  "Be  strong,  O  Zerubbabel,  .  .  .  and  be 
strong,  O  Joshua,  .  .  .  and  be  strong,  all  ye  people  of  the 
land.  .  .  .  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  According  to  the  word 
that  I  covenanted  with  you  when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt,  so  my 
Spirit  remaineth  among  you  :  fear  ye  not."  "And  in  this  place 
will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Now,  I  pray  you, 
consider  from  this  day  and  upward,  from  before  a  stone  was  laid 
upon  a  stone  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord;  .  .  .  consider  now 


308  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

from  this  day  and  upward,  .  .  .  even  from  the  day  that  the 
foundation  of  the  Lord's  temple  was  laid,  consider  it.  ... 
From  this  day  will  I  bless  you." 

At  the  same  time  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Zechariah  said  to 
Zerubbabel :  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts.  Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain?  before 
Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become  a  plain :  and  he  shall  bring  forth 
the  headstone  thereof  with  shoutings,  crying,  Grace,  grace  unto  it. 
.  .  .  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid  the  foundation  of  this 
house ;  his  hands  shall  also  finish  it ;  .  .  .  for  who  hath  de- 
spised the  day  of  small  things  ?  for  they  shall  rejoice,  and  shall  see 
the  plummet  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel."  The  honor  that  God 
attaches  to  the  work  of  church-building,  and  the  blessing  that  he 
confers  on  those  who  are  engaged  in  that  work,  are  in  these  cases 
thus  set  forth,  and  should  serve  to  excite  in  all  God's  people  an  all- 
absorbing  zeal  to  be  participants  in  the  work  and  sharers  in  the 
promised  blessing.  If  so,  who  can  doubt  that  soon  we  would  have 
every  congregation  in  our  Church  at  home  and  abroad  suitably 
housed,  and  the  means  at  hand  when  needed  to  house  every  new 
congregation  as  soon  as  formed? 

In  the  days  of  Ezra  King  Artaxerxes  said :  "Whatsoever  is 
commanded  by  the  God  of  heaven,  let  it  be  diligently  done  for  the 
house  of  the  God  of  heaven  :  for  why  should  there  be  wrath  against 
the  realm  of  the  king  and  his  sons?"  If  the  inspiration  of  the  Al- 
mighty in  the  olden  times  made  such  an  impression  on  a  heathen 
king,  what  should  be  the  impression  of  the  complete  revelation  of 
God  upon  the  Church  of  our  time  ? 

We  offer  you  from  the  Scriptures  a  model  for  universal  use  in 
taking  Church  Extension  collections,  whether  by  those  who  are 
about  to  build  or  to  help  others  to  build.  This  model  is  found  in 
i  Chronicles  xxix.  It  is  the  account  there  given  of  David  taking 
a  collection  for  the  building  of  the  temple.  The  spirit  of  David 
serves  as  a  model  for  any  pastor,  whether  in  the  mission  field  or 
at  home.  It  is  given  in  these  words :  "Lord,  remember  David  and 
all  his  afflictions :  how  he  sware  unto  the  Lord,  and  vowed  unto 
the  mighty  God  of  Jacob ;  Surely  I  will  not  come  into  the  taber- 
nacle of  my  house,  nor  go  up  into  my  bed ;  I  will  not  give  sleep  to 
mine  eyes,  or  slumber  to  mine  eyelids,  until  I  find  out  a  place  for 
the  Lord,  a  habitation  for  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob." 

Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  that  this  is  a  model  collection  in  the 


MISSIONARY    PHASE    OF    CHURCH    EXTENSION.  309 

fact  that  it  is  taken  up  before  the  work  is  begun  and  is  not  mere- 
ly a  subscription,  but  a  donation.  It  is  a  model,  too,  in  the  willing- 
ness with  which  it  is  done  and  the  emphasis  which  is  put  upon  this 
willingness.  It  is  a  model,  too,  in  the  rejoicing  that  was  indulged 
in  as  the  result  not  only  of  the  amount  given  but  of  the  willingness 
with  which  it  was  given.  I  give  you  the  words  of  the  record  :  "Now 
I  have  prepared  with  all  my  might  for  the  house  of  my  God  the 
gold  for  things  to  be  made,  of  gold,  and  the  silver  for  things  of  sil- 
ver, and  the  brass  for  things  of  brass,  and  iron  for  things  of  iron, 
and  wood  for  things  of  wood;  onyx  stones,  and  stones  to  be  set, 
glistening  stones,  and  of  divers  colors,  and  all  manner  of  precious 
stones,  and  marble  stones  in  abundance.  Moreover,  because  I 
have  set  my  affection  to  the  house  of  my  God,  I  have  of  mine  own 
proper  good,  of  gold  and  silver,  which  I  have  given  to  the  house 
of  my  God,  over  and  above  all  that  I  have  prepared  for  the  holy 
house,  even  three  thousand  talents  of  gold,  of  the  gold  of  Opliir, 
and  seven  thousand  talents  of  refined  silver.  .  .  .  Who  then 
is  willing  to  consecrate  his  service  this  day  unto  the  Lord?  Then 
the  chief  of  the  fathers  and  princes  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and  the 
captains  of  thousands  and  of  hundreds,  with  the  rulers  of  the  king's 
work,  offered  willingly.  .  .  .  They  with  whom  precious  stones 
were  found  gave  them  to  the  treasure  of  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
.  .  .  Then  the  people  rejoiced,  for  that  they  offered  willing- 
ly ...  to  the  Lord :  and  David  the  king  also  rejoiced  with 
great  joy.  Wherefore  David  blessed  the  Lord  before  all  the  con- 
gregation :  and  David  said,  Blessed  be  thou,  Lord  God  of  Israel 
our  father,  forever  and  ever.  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and 
the  power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty  :  for 
all  that  is  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is  thine,  .  .  .  and 
thou  art  exalted  as  head  above  all.  Now  therefore,  our  God,  we 
thank  thee,  and  praise  thy  glorious  name.  But  who  am  I,  and 
what  is  my  people,  that  we  should  be  able  to  offer  so  willingly 
after  this  sort?  ...  As  for  me,  in  the  uprightness  of  mine 
heart  I  have  willingly  offered  all  these  things  :  and  now  have  I 
seen  with  joy  thy  people,  which  are  present  here,  to  offer  willingly 
unto  thee.  .  .  .  And  David  said  to  all  the  congregation,  Now 
bless  the  Lord  your  God.  And  all  the  congregation  blessed  the 
Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  .  .  .  And  they  sacrificed  sacrifices 
unto  the  Lord,  .  .  .  and  did  eat  and  drink  before  the  Lord  on 
that  day  with  great  gladness." 


3io 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Two  views  of 
mission  work. 


Attitude  of 
the  Adminis- 
tration. 


THE  FUTURE  OF  MISSIONS  IN  ASIA  FROM  A  LAY- 
MAN'S STANDPOINT. 

THE   HON.   JOHN    BARRETT. 

GOING  out  to  Asia  seven  years  ago  as  a  United  States  Minister, 
I  was,  in  a  degree,  prejudiced  against  missionaries.  Returning 
to  America  six  years  later,  I  was  convinced  of  the  practical  value 
and  importance  of  their  work.  Four  years'  official  residence  in 
Siam,  a  year  or  more  in  China  and  Japan,  and  another  in  the  Phil- 
ippines, aroused  me  to  an  appreciation  of  America's  mighty  re- 
sponsibilities and  opportunities,  missionary  and  commercial,  in 
the  far  East.  Just  across  the  seas  from  our  Pacific  shores  are 
600,000,000  of  human  souls  and  $2,000,000,000  of  commerce. 

In  other  words,  careful  study  of  missionary  work  and  thorough 
investigation  of  commercial  effort,  during  a  period  of  six  years 
in  China,  Japan,  Korea,  Siam,  Burma,  Java,  and  the  Philippines, 
leave  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  our  Churches  and  our  chambers 
of  commerce  should  labor  in  coordinate,  and  possibly  cooperative, 
endeavor  to  advance  their  respective  interests  among  Asia's  un- 
counted millions.  There  may  be  faults — grave  faults — in  our 
present  missionary  methods,  but  faults  are  to  be  found  among 
merchants  and  diplomatists  as  well  as  among  missionaries.  On 
the  whole,  however,  impartial  critics  must  admit  that  the  meas- 
ure of  praise  and  credit  far  outweighs  the  measure  of  censure 
and  criticism.  The  chief  feature  and  failure  of  anti-missionary 
comment  is  the  tendency  to  select  isolated  or  exaggerated  cases 
of  mistakes  and  incompetency  and  describe  them  as  character- 
istic of  all  missionaries. 

And  right  here  I  would  pause  in  the  discussion  of  this  question 
to  make  what,  in  my  mind,  is  one  of  the  most  important  sugges- 
tions of  my  humble  address.  In  the  presence  of  you  2,000  lay 
and  clerical  delegates  from  all  parts  of  Dixie — men  not  only  con- 
cerned in  the  evangelization  of  a  foreign  China,  but  in  the  social 
and  material  development  of  our  own  home  Southland — I  desire 
to  say  an  earnest  word  touching  upon  the  personal  side  of  the 
Administration  and  the  influence  of  its  personal  element  on  our 
great  national  policies. 

At  this  critical  period  of  the  Chinese  negotiations  the  South 
has  as  much  at  stake  as  any  other  section,  and  will,  therefore, 
directly  appreciate  what  is  said  upon  this  phase  of  the  subject. 


BARRETT. 


THE    FUTURE   OF   MISSIONS    IN   ASIA. 

With  the  fate  of  your  wide  field  for  missionary  labor  and  your 
growing  markets  for  cotton  goods  hanging  in  the  balance,  you 
naturally  are  anxious  to  know  the  real  or  personal  quality  of  the 
concern  which  the  Chief  Executive  feels  in  this  serious  situation. 

Summed  up  in  a  word,  the  statement  is  justified  that  you  men 
of  great  Christian  and  commercial  interests  can  have  full  and 
complete  confidence  in  the  honest  intentions  and  efforts  of  Pres- 
ident McKinley  to  protect  and  advance  what  you  have  at  stake 
in  China.  There  is  no  adequate  measuring  of  the  good  to  the 
country,  .South  and  North,  that  comes  through  having  a  man  of 
his  sturdiness  of  Christian  character,  his  broad,  nonsectional 
statesmanship,  and  his  firm  grasp  of  international  relations,  guid- 
ing our  foreign  and  home  affairs  at  this  time.  He  is  as  unselfish- 
ly devoted  to  the  protection  and  well-being  of  your  Southern  in- 
terests as  he  is  to  those  of  the  North  and  West.  He  is  as  hope- 
ful of  maintaining  the  "open  door"  in  China  for  Christian  effort 
as  he  is  for  commercial  intercourse.  Possessed  of  all  the  infor- 
mation that  is  forthcoming  on  the  Chinese  crisis,  while  yours  and 
mine  may  be  limited,  and  intent  upon  safeguarding  the  extended 
variety  of  American  interests  in  China,  he  is  to  be  trusted  and 
supported  in  his  policies  by  all  your  Southern  Churches  and  com- 
mercial organizations. 

With  no  ax  to  grind  myself,  beyond  that  of  telling  the  truth, 
I  believe  that  President  McKinley's  administration  of  eight  years, 
during  most  momentous  and  trying  times,  will  rank  in  history 

with  the  administrations  of  Lincoln  and  Washington  in  the  sue-   Th<;  ^resjdent 

°  and  his  Secre 

cessful  meeting  and  mastering  of  mighty  issues  affecting  the  last-  tary  of  state 
ing  weal  of  the  nation,  of  South  and  North  alike,  and  involving 
difficult  problems  abroad  and  at  home. 

Another  word  in  this  connection.  As  we  look  through  the 
cabinet  of  strong  men  associated  with  the  President  as  his  ad- 
visers, we  find  in  Secretary  Hay  a  man  who  is  bending  every 
energy  with  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  situation  to  con- 
serve the  missionary  and  commercial  interests  of  America  in 
China.  He  is  fully  in  sympathy  with  what  you  men  of  the  South 
have  at  stake  in  the  far  East,  and  you  can  have  complete  confi- 
dence in  his  direction  of  our  affairs  in  Cathay.  And  right  here 
it  may  be  fitting  to  add  a  word  about  the  agent  of  the  state  de- 
partment now  in  Peking.  Possibly  you  may  attribute  more 
weight  to  what  I  say  when  I  frankly  admit  that  I  was  hopeful  of 
being  senr  on  the  mission  which  he  is  now  carrying  out.  Mr. 


312 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


BARRETT. 


A  layman's 
general  view. 


The. expansion] 
of  missions    I  : 


Rockhill,  I  am  informed,  has  been  attacked  by  some  sincere,  but, 
I  fear,  wrongly  informed,  people.  He  has  been  described  as  hos- 
tile to  missionary  work,  and  hence  unsuited  to  his  present  respon- 
sibilities. Permit  me,  in  all  fairness,  to  say  that  it  is  my  honest 
belief  that  you  can  have  confidence  in  his  ability,  qualifications, 
and  in  his  intentions  and  instructions  to  guard  faithfully  mis- 
sionary as  well  as  commercial  interests. 

The  layman,  like  myself,  who  has  been  in  Asia  and  studied 
the  field  takes  a  general  view  of  the  situation  and  notes  that 
such  eminent  statesmen  as  Marquis  Ito,  in  Japan,  and  Chulalon- 
korn,  the  king  of  Siam,  have  declared  unreservedly  in  favor  of 
missionary  work.  Ito  states  that  Japan's  marvelous  progress 
and  development  are  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  missionaries 
exerted  in  right  directions  when  Japan  was  first  studying  the 
outer  world.  Chulalonkorn,  whom  Li  Hung  Chang  described 
to  me  as  one  of  the  ablest  statesmen  in  Asia,  and  who  is  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  progressive  countries 
of  the  far  East,  freely  aids,  in  every  way  possible,  missionary 
effort.  Such  eminent  Chinese  as  Li  Hung  Chang,  Sheng,  Chang 
Chi  Tung,  Liu  Kin  Yi,  all  told  me  that  they  and  their  people 
did  not  object  to  missionaries  as  a  body,  nor  to  Christianity  as  a 
religion,  but  to  a  few  imprudent  and  tactless  men,  working  for 
the  promulgation  of  Christianity  in  such  unfortunate  ways  as  to 
undo  the  good  done  by  the  majority,  and  to  develop  prejudice 
against  men  and  methods  that  were  prudent  and  tactful. 

Again,  it  is  noted  that  missionaries,  contrary  to  common  as- 
sumption, have  accomplished  a  great  work  in  conversions 
throughout  China.  In  1877  there  were  only  13,033  Chinese 
Christian  communicants  and  an  associated  Christian  element  of 
40,000;  in  1890  there  were  31,000  communicants  and  100,000  ob- 
serving Christian  practices ;  in  1900  there  were  80,682  communi- 
cants enrolled  in  fifty-four  separate  Protestant  Christian  mission 
societies  in  China,  a  wonderful  increase  in  ten  years,  while  fully 
200,000  Chinese  were  under  Christian  influence.  There  were  also 
in  1900  somt  30,000  pupils  in  Christian  day  schools,  and  5,000  in 
institutions  of  higher  learning. 

If  we  add  to  these  totals  the  number  of  Roman  Catholic  Chris- 
tians, it  can  be  stated  on  the  best  authority  that  previous  to  the 
recent  outbreak  and  massacres  there  were  250,000  Christian 
communicants  and  a  Christian  community  approximating  500,- 
ooo  souls  in  that  vast  empire.  This  number  is  small  in  compari- 


THE    FUTURE    OF   MISSIONS    IN    ASIA. 


313 


UAKRETT. 


Some  advan- 


son  to  China's  total  population,  but  it  shows  a  healthy  increase, 
and  is  the  beginning  of  limitless  possibilities.  The  growth  of 
Christianity  in  China  has,  in  fact,  been  no  less  than  that  of  com- 
merce, though  the  latter  may  be  more  tangible.  We  shall  not 
withdraw  the  messengers  of  Christianity  in  China  until  we  with- 
draw the  agents  of  commerce.  The  ministers  of  our  faith  will 
remain  as  long  as  the  ministers  of  our  government. 

Summarizing  in  the  briefest  terms  possible  some  points  in  favor 
of  missionary  work  from  a  layman's  point  of  view,  we  enumerate 
the  following : 

1.  In  my  experience  as  a  United  States  Minister,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  missionaries,  scattered  over  a  land  as  large  as  the  Ger- 
man empire,  gave  me  less  trouble  than  fifteen  business  or  mer- 
chants. 

2.  Everywhere  they  go,  in  Siam  or  Burma,  in  China  or  Japan, 
they  tend  to  raise  the  moral  tone  of  the  community  where  they 
settle. 

3.  They  are  the  pioneers  in  education,  starting  the  first  practical 
schools  and  higher  institutions  of  learning,  teaching  along  lines 

that  develop  the  spirit  of  true  citizenship  as  well  as  of  Christianity.   tages. 

4.  They  develop  the  idea  of  patriotism,  of  individual  responsi- 
bility in  the  welfare  of  the  state. 

5.  They  carry  on  extensive  medical  and  surgical  work,  build 
hospitals,  encourage  sanitary  measures,  and  have  been  the  chief 
agency  throughout  Asia  to  check  the  spread  of  diseases  like 
smallpox,  cholera,  and  the  plague. 

6.  They  do  a  great  work  of  charity,  and  teach  the  idea  of  self- 
help  among  masses  otherwise  doomed  to  starvation  and  cruel 
slavery. 

7.  They  are  helpful  in  preparing  the  way  for  legitimate  com-  What  the  mis- 
mercial  expansion,  and  almost  invariably  precede  the  merchant  sionaries  do. 
in  penetrating  the  interior. 

8.  They  have  clone  more  than  either  commerce  or  diplomacy 
to  develop  respect  for  American  character  and  manhood  amon'g 
the  countless  ignorant  millions  of  Asia. 

9.  They  are  a  necessity  to  the  Asiatic  statesmen  and  people  to 
provide  them  with  that  instruction  and  information  required  to 
undertake  genuine  progress  and  development. 

These  points,  only  a  part  that  could  be  named,  are  the  practical 
ones  noted  by  the  layman,  aside  from  the  chief  consideration  that 
inspires  the  whole  missionary  movement — the  spread  of  Chris- 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


BARRETT. 


Valuable  sug- 
gestions. 


Proper  prep- 
aration. 


tianity  and  the  consequent  uplifting  of  the  human  race.  That  in 
all  its  ramifications  is  not  for  me  to  discuss.  Your  missionaries 
and  other  able  exponents  cover  that  argument. 

Next  we  ask,  what  can  the  layman  suggest  for  the  betterment 
of  the  work,  or  in  frank  criticism  ? 

1.  No  man  or  woman  should  be  sent  to  the  great,  difficult  field 
of  Asia,  with  its  strange  religions,  languages,  customs,  prece- 
dents, racial  tendencies  and  governments,  who  would  not  be 
deemed  a  man  of  the  highest  competency  in  America  and  who 
could  not  succeed  in  the  home  field. 

2.  While  Christian  zeal  and  devotion  are  of  primary  importance, 
there  should  be  invariably  combined  with  them  good  judgment 
and  rare  tact  to  meet  and  master  the  unparalleled  complications 
just  mentioned. 

3.  No  man  or  woman  should  think  of  going  to  Asia  as  a  mis- 
sionary just  to  secure  a  salary  or  have  an  occupation,  but  rather 
as  undertaking  a  responsibility  which  the  following  of  no  pro- 
fession or  calling  in  America  involves. 

4.  So  important  is  the  work  and  so  difficult  the  field  that,  as  far 
as  possible,  a  thorough  training  and  education  in  languages,  cus- 
toms, and  government  of  the  foreign  people  should  be  required 
of  candidates  before  they  enter  the  missionary  life. 

5.  This  leads  to  a  suggestion  that  has  often  come  to  my  mind, 
that  there  should  be  established  in  the  United  States  a  great  mis- 
sionary preparatory  institution  or  college,  where  all  intending 
missionaries  could  be  properly  trained,  and  where  only  the  fittest 
would  be  chosen. 

6.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  increase  the  force  of  native 
workers  or  missionaries  to  carry  the  work  into  the  interior,  and 
not  depend  on  foreigners,  for  only  with  stanch  native  clergy  and 
teachers  can  the  advance  of  Christianity  be  permanent  and  wide- 
reaching. 

7.  Missionaries  on  the  field  should  avoid  mixing  in  local  politics, 
although  it  is  admitted  that  in  so  far  as  they  teach  the  meaning 
of  justice,  honesty,  and  good  citizenship  this  cannot  be  avoided. 

8.  Many  claim  that  no  unmarried  women  or  girls  should  be 
sent  into  the  foreign  mission  field,  because  of  native  prejudice 
and  misconception  of  their  character,  although  there  is  a  noble 
record  to  the  credit  of  this  class  of  missionaries. 

There  is  no  greater  mistake  than  to  lay  the  blame  for  the  Boxer 
outbreak  at  the  door  of  the  missionaries.     That  was  an  anti-for- 


THE   FUTURE    OF   MISSIONS    IN    ASIA.  315 

eign,  not  an  anti-missionary,  demonstration.     The  missionaries   BAKRETT- 
were  the  chief  sufferers  because  they  were  the  only  foreigners 
in  large  numbers  open  to  attack.     Had  there  been  colonies  of  Thfi  Boxer 
foreign  merchants  in  the  interior,  they  would  have  been  attacked  tratbreafc. 
and  murdered  without  discrimination.     Railway  engineers  were 
killed  where  missionaries  were  spared. 

The  Boxer  outbreak  finds  its  cause,  in  my  opinion,  more  in  the 
material  greed  for  territorial  aggrandizement  on  the  part  of  for- 
eign powers  than  in  the  missionary  zeal  of  evangelization.  The 
seizures  of  Chinese  territory  at  Port  Authur,  Kaichow,  and  Wei- 
Hai-Wei  alone  would  be  sufficient  cause  for  this  anti-foreign 
feeling.  Add  to  this  influence  the  severe  famine  and  drought 
which  prostrated  North  China,  and  which  might  be  termed  the 
occasion  of  the  outbreak,  and  we  have  two  most  important  con- 
siderations that  lift  the  blame  largely  from  the  missionaries. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  missionaries 
seldom  meet  with  persecution  where  there  are  honest  native  offi- 
cials ;  that  the  native  masses  have  naturally  little  anti-missionary 
feeling,  unless  it  is  fostered  by  such  officials  or  unscrupulous 
leaders,  and  that  honest  viceroys,  taotais,  and  mandarins  welcome 
rather  than  discourage  the  presence  of  missionaries  in  their  cities 
and  provinces. 

Why,  it  is  often  asked,  is  there  so  much  opposition  to  and  crit- 
icism of  missionaries?  This  question  can  be  briefly  answered  as 
follows:  First,  much  criticism  is  superficial  and  not  based  on  Nature  of  anti- 
actual  information  and  knowledge;  secondly,  an  instance  of  a 
bigoted  or  narrow-minded  missionary  is  too  often  described  as 
characteristic  of  all ;  thirdly,  it  seems  to  be  the  fad  in  the  clubs  and 
society  life  of  the  treaty  ports  to  criticise  the  missionary,  so  that 
travelers  and  others  hearing  this  unconsciously  absorb  a  spirit 
of  criticism  ;  fourthly, often  the  most  violent  opponents  of  mission- 
aries are  young  men  living  lives  that  could  not  bear  the  scrutiny 
of  the  average  man,  not  to  speak  of  the  missionary;  fifthly,  the 
prejudice  of  the  native  is  not  against  Christianity  and  Christ,  but 
against  a  certain  limited  class  of  men  and  methods  employed  in 
missionary  work  ;  sixthly,  a  careful  analysis  of  anti-missionary 
feelings  among  the  natives,  moreover,  discloses  the  fact  that,  in- 
asmuch as  the  missionaies  teach  honesty  of  acts,  dealings,  and 
judgment,  they  make  themselves  obnoxious  to  the  corrupt  ele- 
ment, which  uses  every  means  to  embarrass  and  cripple  their 
work ;  seventhly,  the  missionary  logically  teaches  ideas  that  un- 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


BARRETT. 


What  makes 
trouble. 


America's 
new  position^ 


The  change. 


avoidably  clash  with  the  ancient  superstition  of  the  natives,  which, 
however,  must  be  eradicated  if  a  new  and  powerful  nation  would 
be  evolved. 

It  now  remains  for  missionary  work  to  be  continued  through 
the  broad,  liberal  attitude  of  both  foreign  missionaries  and  native 
officials.  Mutual  concessions  must  be  made.  Missionary  and 
mandarin  must  realize  that  the  present  system  has  its  faults  on 
both  sides,  and  that  great  good  for  the  foreigner's  religion  and 
for  the  native's  government  can  be  accomplished  by  mutual  con- 
fidence and  cooperation. 

It  may  be  well  to  remember  what  Sheng  Taotai  once  said  to 
me :  "Give  me  a  tactless  missionary  and  a  dishonest  official,  and 
I  will  show  you  trouble.  On  the  other  hand,  give  me  a  tactful 
missionary  and  an  honest  official,  and  I  will  show  you  a  condition 
of  mutual  confidence  and  no  trouble  whatever  between  mission- 
aries and  natives." 

Unfortunately,  it  would  seem  that  the  dishonest  officials  far 
outnumber  the  tactless  missionaries,  but  let  us  even  correct  this 
fault  on  the  foreign  side,  and  then  the  responsibility  will  rest  upon 
the  Asiatic. 

In  conclusion  I  wish  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  America's  new 
position  in  the  far  East.  In  that  way  you  may  better  understand 
the  great  responsibilities  that  are  upon  us  and  the  wider  oppor- 
tunities that  there  will  be  for  extending  missionary  work.  The 
United  States  is  an  entirely  different  power  in  China  and  the 
far  East  from  what  it  was  before  Dewey's  great  victory  on  the 
first  of  May,  1898.  Before  that  remarkable  event  which  stirred 
the  world,  America  was  considered  among  China's  uncounted 
millions  as  a  third  or  fourth  rate  power.  Our  Ministers  and 
Consuls  had  not  the  influence  of  their  European  colleagues.  We 
were  standing  far  clown  the  line,  behind  the  British,  the  French, 
the  Russians,  the  Germans,  and  even  the  Belgians. 

But  with  Dewey's  victory  there  came  a  mighty  change.  There 
swept  up  and  down  the  Asiatic  coast  a  tidal  wave  of  American 
prestige  which  seemed  to  reach  back  even  to  the  foothills  of  the 
Himalayas  and  from  Siam  to  Siberia.  For  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  our  relations  in  the  far  East,  America  was  recognized 
as  a  first-class  power.  Our  Ministers  and  our  Consuls  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  representatives  of  other  countries, 
and  their  influence  at  once  became  paramount  at  the  different 
courts  where  they  were  located.  The  American  flag  had  a  new 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  317 

significance.     The  word  "America"  meant  something  which  its  BARREn 
use  never  conveyed  before. 

We  who  had  been  a  long  time  in  Asia,  and  had  lived  and  served 
our  country  under  former  conditions,  recognized  at  once  the 
new  prestige  and  position  that  had  come  to  our  country  and  our 
countrymen.  If  this  revolution  was  accomplished  by  a  great 
incident  or  war,  and  if  it  is  ushering  in  a  new  period  of  material 
ascendency  for  the  United  States  in  the  Pacific  and  in  the  Orient, 
it  means  just  as  much  for  the  moral  advancement  of  China  and 
her  Asiatic  neighbors.  A  new  field  is  open  for  missionary  labor 

as  it  is  for  diplomatic  and  commercial  effort.     There  never  was 

,  i-t         1  r  -1  -1  -1-  •         Openings  and 

a  time  in  the  past  like  that  of  the  present  in  the  responsibilities  obligations  for 

devolving  upon  American  missionaries  throughout  Asia.     They   tne 
will  be  watched  as  never  before.     Their  influence  will  be  far 
greater  than  at  any  time  in  former  years. 

Let  us  hope  that  diplomats,  consuls,  missionaries,  and  mer- 
chants, who  are  representing  the  United  States  and  her  mani- 
fold interests  in  Asia,  will  work  together  for  the  achievement  of 
those  results  which  will  make  America  respected  everywhere  as 
an  ideal  world  power. 


LESSONS  FROM  MASTER  MISSIONARIES. 

BISHOP    C.    R.    GALLOWAY. 

I  HAVE  been  appointed  to  discuss  this  evening  not  the  gospel  of 
missions,  but  the  gospel  of  the  missionaries ;  not  the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  but  the  faith  illustrated  by  the  saints.  The 
man  rather  than  his  message  shall  be  our  prayerful  study.  1  he 
personal  character  of  the  apostle,  and  not  his  divine  commission, 
will  be  our  object  lesson,  and  a  lesson,  1  trust,  that  will  be  both  an 
edification  and  inspiration.  Important  as  is  the  Word  of  God,  it  is 
scarcely  of  more  value  and  virtue  than  the  character  of  the  man  of 
God  who  is  to  be  its  ordained  exposition  and  illustration.  The 
messenger  more  or  less  affects,  if  he  does  not  determine,  the  power 
and  influence  of  his  message.  The  accredited  ambassador  of  a 
great  government  is  the  personal  and  moral  as  well  as  official  ex- 
pression of  the  character  and  genius  of  its  people.  And  so  the 
kingdom  of  the  Lord  Christ  is  best  known  and  most  accuratelv 


GAiLOWAY. 


A  person. 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

measured  by  the  character  of  its  representatives  in  all  the  lands  of 
earth. 

Dr.  Fairbairn  states  a  portentous  truth  when  he  says :  "Every 
good  that  enters  the  world  enters  through  an  individual — a  con- 
scious, reasonable,  moral  man ;  and  it  depends  on  the  quality  of 
the  man  what  measure  of  good  he  brings."  The  character  of  the 
messenger,  I  repeat,  largely  determines  the  power  of  his  mes- 
sage. "The  world  moves  by  personality."  Great  as  an  idea  may 
be,  yet  to  be  potential  it  must  be  embodied.  Truth  is  mighty  and 
will  prevail,  we  are  told,  but  it  is  never  mighty  and  all-conquering 
until  it  is  incarnated.  Doctrine  must  be  transmuted  into  life  before 
it  becomes  a  force  in  the  world.  Tennyson  beautifully  expresses 
the  idea  in  these  exquisite  lines : 

And  so  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds, 
In  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds 
More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought. 

An  apostle's  life  is  the  best  commentary  on  the  gospel  he 
preaches,  because  it  is  most  easily  understood.  A  child  cannot 
make  doctrinal  distinctions,  is  unable  to  grasp  the  metaphysics  of 
theology  or  define  the  terms  in  the  "Shorter  Catechism,"  but  that 
child  can  feel  the  weight  and  might  of  character  as  readily  and 
savingly  as  the  profoundest  philosopher.  There  is  infinite  wis- 
dom, therefore,  in  the  fact  that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  a 
Person.  Its  doctrines  are  the  teachings  of  a  Person;  its  spirit  is 
the  life  of  a  Person ;  its  history  the  story  of  a  Person ;  its  power 
the  inspiration  of  a  Person  ;  its  crowning  triumph  the  resurrection 
of  a  Person;  and  its  apostles  are  simply  the  revealers  of  a  Person. 
And  the  more  perfect  their  reincarnation  of  this  divine  Person, 
the  greater  will  be  the  redemptive  and  triumphant  power  of  their 
life  and  ministry. 

This  stupendous  spiritual  fact  finds  double  emphasis  in  heathen 
lands.  The  missionary  sent  to  preach  the  gospel  will  be  more 
constantly  and  critically  studied  than  the  gospel  he  preaches. 
He  must,  therefore,  become  in  himself — in  the  consistency  and 
purity  of  his  own  unselfish,  consecrated  life — God's  unanswerable 
argument  with  the  heathen  to  forsake  his  discredited  idols  and 
turn  unto  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life.  And  for  such  unveilers  of  our 
Lord  the  heathen  world  pathetically  pleads.  A  distinguished  na- 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES. 


319 


tive  of  India  once  said  in  the  agony  of  his  inquiring  soul  :  "What 
we  ask  of  you  is  not  Christianity,  but  Christians."  Another  said  : 
"What  India  requires  for  its  regeneration  is  not  so  much  Chris- 
tian Bible  passages,  sermons,  and  addresses,  but  the  presentation 
of  a  truly  Christian  life."  An  intelligent  Japanese  gentleman  ut- 
tered this  sad  lament  :  "The  conduct  of  the  foreigners,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  missionaries  and  a  few  laymen,  is  a  scandal  on  the 
name  of  Christianity  and  of  civilization,  and  retards  the  progress 
of  both."  "If  all  the  Englishmen  lived  such  lives  as  Donald  Mc- 
Leod,"  said  a  Hindoo,  "India  would  soon  be  a  Christian  country." 

Such  declarations  evidence  the  supreme  value  of  character  in  a 
missionary.  His  pure  personal  life  is  as  potential  a  gospel  as  the 
divine  oracles  he  is  ordained  to  declare.  And,  thank  God  !  the  men 
and  women  sent  out  to  the  different  and  distant  fields  have  abun- 
dantly  vindicated  the  choice  of  the  Church  and  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Some  of  them  have  become  the  master  spirits  of  the 
centuries,  the  massive  and  majestic  figures  of  the  ages.  Theodore 
Parker  was  not  extravagant  when  he  said:  ''Had  the  whole  mis- 
sionary work  resulted  in  nothing  more  than  the  building  up  of 
such  a  character  as  Adoniram  Judson,  it  would  be  worth  all  it  has 
cost." 

And  the  world  is  beginning  to  share  in  this  generous  appreci- 
ation of  missionaries.  Their  names  have  been  so  interwoven  with 
the  histories  of  the  countries  to  which  their  apostolic  lives  were  do- 
voted  that  they  have  become  the  most  conspicuous  figures  there- 
in. In  the  story  of  Africa  what  names  are  written  in  largest  let- 
ters? Not  the  governors  of  provinces  and  generals  of  armies  who 
have  guided  the  affairs  of  government  and  carried  the  English 
flag  in  triumph  ;  but  the  names  of  Robert  Moffat  and  David  Liv- 
ingstone. 

In  India,  viceroys  and  generals  may  be  forgotten  —  Hastings, 
Lord  Clive,  and  the  rest  —  but  Carey  and  Swartz  and  Martyn  and 
Marshman  and  Reginald  Pleber  and  William  Butler  and  scores 
of  others  shine  resplendent  as  the  stars  in  the  blue  vault  of  heaven. 

Bishop  Thoburn,  our  honored  guest  on  this  great  occasion, 

once  made  this  eloquent  statement  :  ''During  a  residence  of  a 

to 
dozen  years  in  Calcutta  I  met  many  tourists  from  England  and 

America.  Among  them  all  I  recall  but  one  who  wished  to  see  the 
house  in  which  Macaulay  had  lived  ;  one  asked  to  see  the  house  in 
which  Thackeray  had  been  born  ;  and  two  or  three  inquired  for  the 


Value  of 


Grave  of 
Carey. 


320  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

residence  of  Warren  Hastings.  But,  literally,  scores  upon  scores 
have  asked  to  be  led  to  the  grave  of  William  Carey,  and  the  little 
burying  ground  in  the  old  Danish  settlement  at  Serampore  has 
become  like  a  pilgrim's  shrine  to  which  Christian  men  and  women 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  world." 

A  scholarly  and  distinguished  gentleman,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  American  Board,  paid  this  eloquent  tribute  to  missionary 
what  missita-  Character  and  courage :  "The  missionary  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
aries  have  CJ  highest  type  of  human  excellence  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  his 
profession  to  be  the  noblest.  He  has  the  enterprise  of  the  mer- 
chant without  the  narrowing  desire  for  gain ;  the  dauntlessness  of 
the  soldier  without  the  shedding  of  blood  ;  the  zeal  of  the  geogra- 
pher but  for  a  higher  motive  than  science."  And  like  appreciative 
tributes  have  been  paid  by  eloquent  tongues  and  pens  in  all 
lands  where  the  brave  apostles  of  our  Lord  have  borne  the  flag  of 
their  faith.  Lord  Lawrence,  when  viceroy  of  India,  made  this 
emphatic  statement :  "However  many  benefits  the  English  people 
have  conferred  on  India,  the  missionaries  have  accomplished  more 
than  all  other  influences  together."  Mr.  Danvin,  the  great  scien- 
tist, after  his  observations  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  said :  "The 
lesson  of  the  missionary  is  the  enchanter's  wand."  At  the  feet 
of  these  mighty  apostles  of  our  God  let  us  reverently  sit  this  even- 
ing and  "hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 

The  statue  erected  to  David  Livingstone  in  Edinburgh  repre- 
sents the  great  missionary  as  standing  upon  a  lofty  pedestal,  with 
the  calm  confidence  of  a  conqueror,  his  eager  eyes  turned  toward 
Africa,  with  a  Bible  in  one  hand  and  the  other  resting  on  an  ax. 
Those  are  the  suggestive  symbols  of  what  all  missionaries  stand 
for — the  world's  redemption  and  civilization.     They  have  made 
the  echoes  of  the  woodman's  ax  keep  time  with  the  story  of  the 
Redemption       gospel  in  preparing  the  nations  for  the  coming  of  the  King.     In- 
Ti0nt  dustrial  empire  has  followed  the  steps  of  their  apostolic  wander- 

ings ;  commerce  has  reaped  the  fruits  of  their  faithful  sowing ;  civ- 
ilization has  been  built  upon  the  foundations  of  their  wise  planning 
and  planting;  nations  have  been  the  beneficiaries  of  their  splendid 
and  unawed  daring.  They  have  opened  hospitals,  established  or- 
phanages, founded  schools  and  colleges,  and  introduced  the  great 
doctrines  of  personal  and  civil  liberty.  They  have  taught  the 
tribes  of  earth  the  use  of  plow  and  plumb  line,  saw  and  hammer, 
compass  and  trowel,  steam  and  electricity,  and  all  the  triumphs  of 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  321 

immortal  mind  unfettered  and  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  the  living  GALLOWAY. 
Christ. 

And  all  this  they  have  done  with  an  almost  reckless  disregard  Whgt  jnjggi 
of  personal  comfort  or  even  life  itself.     The  difficulties  they  have  aries  have 
mastered,  the  dangers  they  have  encountered,  the  opposition  they 
have  overcome,  the  friendships  they  have  won,  the  martyrdoms 
they  have  suffered, and  the  achievements  they  have  wrought, make 
a  story  that  reads  like  a  perpetual  miracle.     In  some  instances 
they  had  to  construct  a  language  and  then  preach  in  it ;  they  had 
to  create  a  moral  sense  and  then  appeal  to  it.     Difficulties  and  dis- 
couragements never  dreamed  of  in  the  home  lands  they  have  had 
to  meet  and  master. 

And  many  of  their  fiercest  battles  had  to  be  fought  alone  and 
in  a  dark  room.  No  man,  however  masterful  and  resourceful, 
ever  becomes  independent  of  personal  sympathy  and  support. 
Even  the  mighty  and  majestic  St.  Paul  himself  suffered  most  from 
the  loneliness  of  leadership  and  the  loss  of  friends.  These  brave 
souls  have  often  to  prosecute  their  Lord's  work  without  even  the 
cheering,  sustaining  presence  of  the  loved  ones  in  their  own 
homes. 

I  know  of  no  picture  more  pathetic  than  that  of  Mrs.  Judson, 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  her  home  by  the  sea  in  Burma  watch- 
ing the  ship  sail  away  that  was  bringing  her  children  to  America 
for  their  education.  The  long-dreaded  hour  had  come,  the  most 
painful  hour  in  the  life  of  every  missionary  mother.  She  must  be  A  sacrifice, 
separated  for  years,  if  not  for  life,  from  the  dear  ones  of  her  heart 
in  order  that  they  may  have  the  advantages  of  collegiate  training 
in  a  Christian  land  and  a  Christian  school.  She  had  to  make  se- 
lection between  separation  from  her  children  at  a  time  when  they 
needed  her  most,  or  leaving  her  husband  alone  in  a  heathen  land 
to  prosecute  his  work  and  bear  the  awful  burden  of  anxiety  and 
isolation.  She  chose  to  give  up  her  children  and  serve  the  needy 
children  of  her  Lord  in  Burma.  With  many  a  long  and  warm 
caress  she  had  bidden  them  good-by  and  the  great  steamer  had 
turned  her  prow  to  the  open  sea.  The  almost  broken-hearted 
mother  stood  and  watched  the  vessel  until  through  the  mist  in 
her  eyes  it  had  ceased  to  be  even  a  speck  on  the  distant  horizon, 
and  then,  turning  into  her  room,  sunk  into  a  chair  and  exclaimed  : 
"All  this  I  do  for  the  sake  of  my  Lord !"  Glorious  spirit  of  mar- 
tyrdom, the  martyrdom  of  mother  love !  How  it  transfigures  ev- 
15 


322 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


GALLOWAY. 


leadership. 


ery  service  that  fills  the  life  of  duty  with  a  minstrelsy  as  sweet  as 
the  angels  sing  in  heaven  ! 

Master  missionaries  have  taught  this  encouraging  lesson  and 
given  this  inspiring  assurance — that  the  Church  will  never  lack  for 
The  promise  of  leaders  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  tJie  Lord's  kingdom.  They 
have  illustrated  the  sublime  readiness  and  eagerness  of  God's  apos- 
tles to  cooperate  with  the  Holy  Spirit  in  opening  and  redeeming 
the  regions  beyond.  When  the  ages  call,  the  heroes  come.  The 
man  and  the  hour  are  made  to  meet.  However  perilous  the  enter- 
prise or  threatening  the  danger,  when  God  calls, prophet  and  apos- 
tle are  ready  to  obey.  While  the  fields  are  ripening  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  preparing  the  husbandmen ;  while  the  war  clouds  are  gathering 
the  passionate  fires  of  patriotism  are  kindling  in  many  a  brave  soul. 
This  is  the  divine  statesmanship  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Eloquent 
and  suggestive  are  those  words  spoken  by  a  great  student  of  the 
history  of  God's  kingdom :  "You  can  point  to  no  critical  epoch 
since  the  foundation  of  the  Church — whether  it  was  the  downfall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  or  the  incoming  of  the  new  races,  or  their  set- 
tlement in  the  new  homes,  or  the  bursting  upon  Europe  of  the  sea 
rovers  from  the  North,  or  the  moving  of  the  Slavic  races  to  their 
present  localities,  or  the  discovery  of  the  new  world,  or  the  pres- 
ent age  during  which  science  has  given  to  the  political  organism 
a  ne\v  circulation,  which  is  steam,  and  a  new  nervous  system, 
which  is  electricity — when  the  spirit  of  missionary  enthusiasm  has 
not  been  rekindled  just  at  the  juncture  when  it  was  most  needed.'* 
There  was  never  a  port  unlocked  that  a  missionary  boat  was  not 
ready  to  cast  anchor;  there  was  never  a  gate  flung  open  that  one 
of  God's  intrepid  apostles  was  not  the  first  to  enter. 

And  the  passionate  eagerness  of  these  brave  missionaries  with 
tongues  of  flame  to  go  up  and  possess  every  opened  land  has  given 
a  new  interpretation  to  the  great  doctrine  of  a  divine  call  to  the 
ministry.  It  is  no  longer  a  providential  compulsion  or  a  reluctant 
yielding  to  the  stern  demands  of  dreaded  duty,  but  a  grateful  and 
joyful  readiness  to  hear  the  voice  of  God.  Bishop  Thoburn's  ex- 
perience is  becoming  universal.  "It  was  not  so  much,"  said  he.  "a 
call  to  India  that  I  received  as  an  acceptance  for  India."  Dr. 
Alexander  Duff,  the  great  apostle  of  education  in  India,  in  giving 
an  account  of  his  divine  acceptance  for  missionary  work,  uttered 
these  thrilling  words  :  "There  was  a  time  when  I  had  no  care  or 
concern  for  the  heathen  ;  that  was  the  time  when  I  had  no  care  or 


Nature  of  the 
divine  call. 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  323 

concern  for  my  own  soul.  When  by  the  grace  of  God  I  was  led  GALLOWAY. 
to  care  for  my  own  soul,  then  it  was  that  I  began  to  care  for  the 
heathen  abroad.  In  my  closet  on  bended  knees  I  then  said  to 
God:  'O  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  silver  and  gold  to  give  to  this 
cause  I  have  none;  what  I  have  I  give  unto  thee,  I  offer  myself; 
wilt  thou  accept  the  gift?' "  That  heroic  spirit,  that  inspired  pa- 
triotism,that  sanctified  loyalty  to  the  divine  kingdom  and  its  King, 
are  becoming  the  rapturous  experience  of  the  modern  Church. 

Master  missionaries,  by  the  successes  they  have  achieved  and 
the  wide  fields  they  have  opened,  -have  enlarged  the  sense  <of  divine  An  enlarged 
responsibility  in  the  Church  of  God.  The  doctrine  of  our  spiritual  sense .°f  re~ 
obligation  to  the  whole  world  has  had  to  win  its  way  in  the  Church 
by  conquest.  National,  racial,  and  geographical  prejudices  have 
put  limitations  upon  the  divine  scope  and  mission  of  religion.  But 
few  faiths  have  aspired  to  become  world-wide.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  Church,  God  had  to  employ  miraculous  agencies  to  broaden 
the  conceptions  and  inspire  the  obligations  of  prophet  and  apos- 
tle. That  was  the  meaning  of  the  vivid  experience  of  Jonah  and 
the  vision  of  Peter  at  Joppa.  Jonah's  prejudice  had  first  to  be 
conquered  before  he  could  preach  the  gospel  of  hope  to  Nineveh, 
and  only  after  three  commands  from  heaven  not  to  call  anything 
common  or  unclean  that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  sanctified  would 
Feter  receive  the  Roman  centurion  Cornelius  into  the  Church. 
Dr.  Ryland  commanded  William  Carey  to  "sit  down"  and  leave 
God  to  take  care  of  the  pagan  world.  The  Scotch  Assembly 
characterized  the  idea  of  world-wide  missions  as  fanatical,  danger- 
ous, revolutionary.  Why  missions  are  modern  is  only  answered 
in  this  way.  But,  thank  God  !  the  times  of  such  ignorance  are  no 
longer  to  be  winked  at. 

The  heroic  and  unfaltering  labors  of  apostolic  missionaries  have 
deepened  the  conviction  and  enriched  the  experience  of  the 
Church  with  a  more  vivid  apprehension  of  universal  redemption 
and  universal  obligation.  With  every  demonstration  of  the  gos- 
pel's perfect  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  another  people  there  is  a 
corresponding  enlargement  of  obligation  to  speedily  provide  them 
with  the  means  of  salvation. 

The  sublime  achievements  of  God's  master  workmen  in  the  dis- 
tant fields  have  wrought  another  needed  revolution  in  the  thought  T 

0  Home  and  for- 

of  the  Church — they  have  abolished  thf  arbitrary  and  unscriptural  e:?n. 
distinction    between    the    cause    of    religion    at    home    and    abroad. 


3H  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


work  is  one_  There  are  not  two  commissions.  Christ  is  not 
divided.  The  principles  are  identical  and  the  same  Spirit  inspires. 
The  particular  field  entered  is  determined  only  by  present  and  im- 
perative needs.  Our  mission  is  to  God's  neediest  children  in  their 
greatest  need.  Wherever  that  need  is  most  urgent,  whether  in 
pagan  China  or  priest-ridden  Mexico,  whether  in  the  jungles  of 
Africa  or  in  the  slums  of  an  American  city,  whether  to  the  dreary 
and  desolate  lands  of  Mahomet  or  to  the  supremely  unconcerned 
and  skeptical  of  our  own  fair  land,  there  the  call  is  loudest,  and  in 
response  to  its  authoritative  voice  we  should  hasten  with  swiftest 
foot. 

They  have  taught  the  Church  new  lessons  in  personal  consecra- 
tion. Not  the  consecration  of  mere  profession,  but  of  prodigious 
and  unselfish  service.  Not  simply  the  claiming  of  ecstatic  ex- 
periences, but  the  joy  of  giving  light  to  those  in  darkness,  the 
blessed  luxury  of  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  This  is  the  joy  of 
the  Lord  that  giveth  strength. 

With  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  into  the  distant  regions 
and  among  the  most  degraded  peoples  increased  emphasis  is  given 
the  great  truths  that  consecration  to  God  is  service  to  man  and  that 

Consecrataor. 

to  God  is  serv-    the  only  way  to  serve  God  is  to  help  man.    God,  who  is  self-exist- 

an'  ent  and  infinite  in  all  his  perfections,  has  no  lack  that  we  can  sup- 
ply, has  no  need  that  appeals  to  our  sympathy.  But  the  needs  of 
man  are  liis  needs;  their  sorrows  are  his  burden.  By  ministering 
to  them  we  serve  God. 

And  the  grandest  types  of  Christian  character  are  developed 
amid  the  activities  of  such  a  strenuous  life.  They  are  not  the 
noblest  disciples  with  the  purest  faith  and  in  most  perfect  harmony 
with  God  who  live  under  the  shadow  of  a  cloister  or  the  shelter  of 
a  nunnery.  You  may  raise  flowers  of  gorgeous  and  glorious 
tint  in  a  conservatory,  but  they  are  of  delicate  fiber  and 
fade  at  the  gentlest  touch  of  the  earliest  frost.  But  trees  that  are 
to  become  monarchs,  strong  and  enduring,  out  of  which  cities  and 
navies  are  built,  must  be  rocked  by  storms  and  toughened  by  the 
changing  seasons  of  the  revolving  years.  So  the  grandest  char- 
acters —  purest  in  faith,  noblest  in  life,  attempting  and  accomplish- 
ing greatest  things  for  God  —  are  those  who  grapple  with  the 
hardest  problems  of  every  day,  and  who  dare,  under  divine  guid- 
ance, to  walk  steadily  into  the  thick  of  any  battle. 

And  these  heroic  men  have  been  an  inspiration  to  their  fellow- 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  325 


GALLOWAY. 


laborers  in  other  mission  fields.  To  the  example  of  certain  flam- 
ing and  fearless  apostles  of  God  the  earlier  missionaries  looked  for 
encouragement  in  their  self-denying  and  perilous  labors.  To  his  Tfcey  are 
coadjutors  William  Carey  used  to  say:  "Let  us  often  look  at  inspiration. 
Brainerd  in  the  woods  of  America  pouring  out  'his  very  soul  be- 
fore God  for  the  perishing  heathen  without  whose  salvation  noth- 
ing could  make  him  happy."  Indeed  it  was  the  story  of  Brain- 
erd/s  toils  in  the  forests  of  this  new  world  that  stirred  the  heart  of 
Carey  on  his  shoemaker's  bench  and  caused  him  to  ask  :  "If  God 
can  do  such  things  among  the  Indians  of  America,  why  not  among 
the  pagans  of  India?"  It  touched  the  heart  of  Henry  Martyn,  the 
young  student  at  Cambridge,  and  helped  to  make  him  one  of  the 
greatest  missionaries  in  the  world.  Edward  Payson,  when  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  wrote  in  his  dairy  :  "In  reading  Mr.  Brainerd's 
life  I  seemed  to  feel  a  most  earnest  desire  after  some  portion  of  his 
spirit."  This  evening  as  I  pronounce  his  precious  name  every 
devout  soul  looks  up  and  instinctively  exclaims  :  "My  father,  my 
father,  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof  !" 

The  achievements  of  master  missionaries  have  quickened  and 
enlarged  the  expectations  of  the  Church.  That  sublime  exhorta- 
tion of  William  Carey,  ''Expect  great  things  from  God,"  has  be- 
come the  experience  of  these  later  times.  The  skepticism  of  the  They 


past  is  the  faith  of  the  present.    Hope  has  become  the  habit  of  the  raised  our 

.  pectations. 

Church.     There  is  less  amazement  at  the  report  ot  mighty  results. 

Victories  are  our  daily  expectation.  Indeed,  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  the  Church  is  disappointed  if  every  day  does  not  bring  good 
tidings  of  great  joy  from  the  distant  and  different  fields.  These 
splendid  successes  are  divine  assurances  for  yet  grander  triumphs. 
"History  is  also  prophecy."  Current  events  predict  if  they  do  not 
•predestinate  what  will  occur  to-morrow. 

Never  in  all  the  history  of  our  planet  have  spiritual  and  secular 
forces  so  conspired  for  the  conquests  of  the  gospel.  Every  inven- 
tion and  agency  designed  for  the  furtherance  of  commerce  give 
speed  and  wing  to  the  apocalyptic  angel  carrying  abroad  the  mes- 
^age  of  salvation.  International  treaties  and  relationships  make 
possible  and  give  encouragement  to  spiritual  fellowship.  The 
electric  cables  that  interchange  daily,  if  not  hourly,  the  market 
reports  of  the  world  also  flash  across  seas  and  continents  the  glad 
tidings  of  gospel  triumphs.  Doors  are  open  and  fields  are  white 
everywhere. 


326 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


What  mighty  displays  of  pentecostal  power  have  been  wit- 
nessed !  Every  day  brings  joyful  tidings  from  some  field  where  a 
great  victory  has  been  won.  The  Lord's  hosts  are  being  recruited 
with  valiant  forces  ready  and  eager  for  service.  The  valley  that 
Ezekiel  saw  covered  with  bleaching  bones  now  glitters  with  the 
blades  and  trembles  with  the  tread  of  an  "exceeding  great  army." 
If,  then,  it  be  true  that  "each  one  counts  two,"  that  each  trophy  is 
prophecy  and  promise  of  another — that  every  Andrew  will  bring 
his  brother  Simon  Peter  to  Christ — how  inspiring  is  the  prospect 
to-day ! 

Though  progress  has  at  times  seemed  to  be  very  slow  and  often 
discouraging,  we  remember  that  "each  one  counts  two."  The 
winning  of  one  heathen  from  his  idols  is  only  securing  a  multiplier 
whose  multiplicand  is  the  exhaustless  grace  of  God.  It  is  the  en- 
trance of  light  that  will  give  abundant  life. 

But  if  expectation  is  bright,  responsibility  is  correspondingly 
great.  The  work  is  before  us  and  necessity  is  upon  us.  A  door  is 
never  opened  without  a  command  to  enter.  Into  every  whitened 
field  our  Lord  calls  both  reaper  and  gleaner.  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world"  is  the  standing  order  of  heaven,  never  to  be  repealed  until 
the  last  conquered  banner  has  been  furled  and  the  last  lost  sinner 
redeemed. 

Other  helpful  and  inspiring  lessons  from  master  missionaries  in 
many  fields  I  cannot  even  mention.  If  time  allowed,  I  should  like 
to  note  how  they  have  given  us  a  larger  interpretation  of  provi- 
dence ;  how  they  gloriously  illustrated  the  doctrine  of  answered 
prayer;  how  they  have  reenforced  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity 
bv  attesting  its  fitness  to  become  the  one  universal  religion ;  and 

*  o 

other  lessons  that  are  but  successive  unfoldings  and  unveilings  of 
God's  glory  and  power- — a  series  of  epiphanies  of  the  risen  and 
reigning  Lord. 

And  the  men  who  wrought  such  wondrous  things  are  worthy 
to  be  kept  in  everlasting  remembrance.  Mighty  leaders  of  the  na- 
tions and  the  generations,  how  tenderly  we  cherish  their  precious 
memories  ;  ho\v  reverently  we  pronounce  their  noble  names  ;  how 
ardently  we  ought  to  follow  their  apostolic  examples  and  reincar- 
nate their  variant  virtues  !  With  such  a  heritage  of  faith  and 
achievement  and  answered  prayer,  and  such  examples  to  incite 
us  to  holy  endeavor,  we  ought  to  speed  the  triumphs  of  our  Lord's 
kingdom.  Let  me  call  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  master  mission- 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  327 

aries  of  the  past  and  invoke  a  double  portion  of  their  spirit  to  de-  GALLOWAY. 
scend  upon  the  Church  of  to-day. 

There  is  David  Brainerd,  the  apostle  to  the  North  American 
Indians,  whose  spirit  was  as  saintly  as  a  seraph,  whose  life  was  a 
joyous  martyrdom  to  duty,  and  whose  early,  triumphant  death  David 
was  the  descent  of  another  chariot  of  fire.  Traveling  through  the  Brainerd. 
dense  and  trackless  forests,  destitute  of  all  creature  comforts,  de- 
nied the  companionship  of  a  single  human  being  who  could  speak 
a  word  of  English,  living  on  the  coarsest  fare,  he  moved  among 
the  savages  of  the  woods  like  an  angel  of  light  and  taught  many 
of  them  the  way  of  life.  It  is  said  that  his  prayers  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest  were  so  intense  that  "his  garments  were  saturated 
with  the  sweat  of  his  intercession."  "Fatigues  and  hardships,"  said 
he,  "serve  to  wean  me  from  the  earth  and,  I  trust,  will  make 
heaven  sweeter."  In  the  agony  of  his  anxiety  to  be  more  useful 
and  successful  he  exclaimed :  "O  that  I  were  a  flame  of  fire  in  the 
Lord's  sen-ice  !  O  that  I  were  spirit  that  I  might  be  more  active  A  Iesson  of 

....  ...  ...  .  consecration. 

for  God !  In  the  thirtieth  year  ot  his  age,  and  after  only  tour 
years  of  prodigious  labor  and  suffering,  the  seraphic  spirit  went 
home  to  rest.  David  Brainerd  bequeathed  to  the  Church  the  les- 
son of  sublime  and  entire  consecration  to  the  Master's  service. 

There  is  William  Carey,  whose  very  name  is  the  synonym  of  a 
forward  movement  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  who  will  ever 
stand  as  the  most  maiestic  figure  in  a  generation  of  giants.  He 

.         .  .     .  .....  •   ,  ,    William  Carey. 

awoke  the  slumber  ot  the  Church,  and  infused  into  its  withered 
veins  the  crimson  tide  of  a  new,  triumphant  life.  His  marvelous, 
unawed  faith  was  equaled  only  by  his  peerless  purpose  and  untir- 
ing labors.  His  love  for  the  heathen  became  a  consuming  pas- 
sion. For  forty-one  years  he  labored  among  the  darkened  mil- 
lions of  India,  and  was  never  so  happy  as  when  leading  some  dear 
soul  into  the  glorious  light.  The  "consecrated  cobbler."  by  dint 
of  his  devotion  to  God  and  his  own  unconquerable  purpose,  rose 
from  obscurity  to  world- wide  and  enduring  fame.  Lord  YVellesley, 
in  acknowledging  an  address  presented  by  William  Carey,  said: 
"I  esteem  such  a  testimony  from  such  a  man  a  greater  honor 
than  the  applause  of  courts  and  parliaments."  He  became  the 
"Wycliffe  of  the  East."  With  his  own  tireless  hand  he  translated 
the  Scriptures  into  four  different  languages.  Others  he  critically 
supervised,  until  twenty-eight  versions  were  issued  from  the  press 
at  Serampore.  His  liberality  was  equaled  only  by  his  stipend. 


328 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


SALLOWAY. 


His  Work. 


A  lesson  of 
faith  and 
fcumility. 


Thomas  Coke. 


When  his  income  as  professor  in  Williams  College  amounted  to 
£1,500  he  reserved  £50  for  personal  needs,  and  gave  all  the  rest  to 
the  cause  of  God.  He  sleeps  in  a  'hero's  grave  at  Serampore. 
Standing  there  and  recalling  the  wonderful  incidents  of  a  great 
history,  the  scenes  of  an  epochal  life — scenes  that  changed  the 
map  of  the  world — we  are  reminded  of  Thomas  Carlyle's  reference 
to  the  birthplace  of  Martin  Luther.  "There  was  born  here,"  said 
he,  "once  more  a  mighty  man,  whose  light  was  to  flame  as  the 
beacon  over  long  centuries  and  epochs  of  the  world ;  the  whole 
world  and  its  history  were  waiting  for  this  man.  It  is  strange,  it 
is  great.  It  leads  us  back  to  another  birth-hour  in  a  still  meaner 
environment  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  ;  of  which  it  is  fit  that  we 
say  nothing;  that  we  think  only  in  silence;  for  what  words  are 
there?  The  age  of  miracles  past?  the  age  of  miracles  is  forever 
here."  William  Carey  has  left  the  Church  the  lesson  of  a  daunt- 
less faith  united  with  the  profoundest  humility. 

In  this  company  of  God's  great  missionary  worthies  is  a  man  </: 
short  stature,  well-knit  frame,  nervous  movement,  fiery  nature. 
open-handed  and  open-hearted,  and  with  an  energy  that  seemed 
never  to  have  had  a  suggestion  of  weariness.  The  father  of  Wes- 
leyan  foreign  missions,  his  zeal  for  the  world's  conquest  has  won 
for  him  the  title  of  "the  foreign  minister  of  Methodism."  That 
man  is  Thomas  Coke.  Xo  knightlier  soul  ever  obeyed  the  trump- 
el  call  of  God  or  wielded  with  braver  arm 

''  a  two-edged  sword 
Of  heavenly  temper  keen." 

His  ardent  desire  for  the  world's  conquest  was  voiced  in  his  own 
loud  exclamation  :  "I  want  the  wings  of  an  angel  and  the  voice  of 
a  trumpet,  that  I  may  preach  the  gospel  in  the  east  and  in  the 
west,  in  the  north  and  in  the  south!" 

His  life  has  all  the  fascination  of  a  tale  of  chivalry.  He  crossed 
the  Atlantic  eighteen  times  at  his  own  expense,  and  traveled  up 
and  down  this  new  world  preaching  the  gospel  with  all  the  fiery 
earnestness  of  a  prophet  of  the  olden  time.  He  gave  his  large 
patrimonial  estate  Vo  the  cause  of  Christian  missions.  A  veteran 
of  more  than  sixty  years,  he  stood  before  the  Wesleyan  Confer- 
ence and  begged  that  he  might  be  sent  as  a  missionary  to  India. 
He  overruled  all  objection,  chartered  a  vessel  at  a  cost  of  $30.000, 
secured  a  few  fellow-laborers,  and  -ailed  for  India,  but  died  on 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  329 

board  the  vessel  and  was  buried  in  the  wide  and  boundless  sea.  GAr-'-OWAY- 
Before  starting  he  remarked  :  "I  am  dead  to  all  things  but  India." 
At  Portsmouth  he  thus  addressed  the  little  group  of  brave  spirits 
who  were  to  accompany  him :  "Here  we  all  are  before  God,  six 
missionaries  and  two  dear  sisters,  now  embarked  in  the  most  im- 
portant and  glorious  work  in  the  world  !     Glory  be  to  his  blessed 
name  that  he  has  given  you  to  be  my  companions  and  assistants 
in  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  poor  Asiatics  !"    Thomas  Coke  has  A  lesson  oi  di- 
left  the  Church  this  lesson  :  a  divine  impatience  for  the  salvation  of  tiencemP 
the  world. 

There  was  Henry  Martyn,  an  honor  graduate  of  Cambridge,  as 
frail  as  a  flower  but  as  heroic  a  soul  as  ever  led  the  hosts  of  God 
to  battle.  He  went  to  India,  preached  like  a  seraph,  translated  K 
rhe  Bible  into  three  different  languages,  traveled  over  many  lands, 
and  died  when  only  thirty  years  of  age.  Christ  crucified  was  his 
ruling  passion,  and  he  seemed  to  have  unbroken  communion  with 
God. 

"  The  thought  of  God 

Filled  him  with  infinite  joy;  his  craving  soul 

Dwelt  on  him  as  a  feast." 

The  burden  of  Christless  souls  was  ever  on  his  great  heart.  He 
cries  out :  "Howdreadful  the  reflection  that  any  should  perish  who 
might  have  been  saved  by  my  exertions !"  At  Dinapore  we  find 
this  in  his  dairy  of  a  single  day  :  "Morning  in  Sanskrit ;  afternoon 
Bahar  dialect;  continued  late  at  night  writing  on  parables  in  Ben- 
gali. The  wickedness  and  cruelty  of  wasting  a  moment  when  so 
many  nations  are  waiting  till  I  do  my  work."  His  thirtieth  birth- 
day found  him  traveling  on  foot  to  Persia.  He  was  pale,  very 
emaciated,  and  too  weak  to  speak  except  in  a  whisper.  He  lived 
only  by  force  of  his  imperial  soul.  In  his  journal  he  says  :  'T  am 
now  at  the  age  when  the  Saviour  of  men  began  his  ministry  :  when 
John  the  Baptist  called  a  nation  to  repentance.  Let  me  now 
think  for  myself  and  act  with  energy.  Hitherto  I  have  made  my 
vouth  and  insignificance  an  excuse  for  sloth  and  imbecility ;  now 
let  me  have  a  character  and  act  for  God."  Shortly  thereafter  the 
exhausted  saint  sunk  down  and  never  rose  again.  In  a  far-away  A  lesson  of 
missionary  grave  he  sleeps,  while  God's  good  angels  keep  loving  u 
and  wakeful  sentry.  The  lesson  of  Henry  Martyn's  life  is  perfect 
self-renunciation  in  a  compassionate  u>:v  for  mankind. 


330 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GALLOWAY. 


His  epitaph. 


Mellville  Cox. 


Love  is  strong- 
er titan  life. 


How  beautiful  is  the  epitaph  written  by  Lord  Macaulay : 

Here  Martyn  lies!     In  manhood's  early  bloom 

The  Christian  hero  found  a  pagan  tomb! 

Religion,  sorrowing  o'er  her  favorite  son, 

Points  to  the  glorious  trophies  which  he  won. 

Eternal  trophies,  not  with  slaughter  red, 

Not  stained  with  tears  by  hopeless  captives  shed, 

But  trophies  of  the  Cross.     For  that  dear  name, 

Through  every  form  of  danger,  death,  and  shame, 

Onward  he  journeyed  to  a  happier  shore, 

Where  danger,  death,  and  shame  are  known  no  more. 

At  a  Methodist  Annual  Conference  in  session  at  Norfolk,  Va., 
v,  ith  Bishop  Redding  in  the  chair,  a  young  man  was  sitting  mod- 
estly in  his  place  eagerly  watching  the  proceedings,  pale,  sad,  and 
evidently  making  a  heroic  fight  against  mortal  disease.  He  had 
recently  buried  his  fair  young  wife,  and  his  own  failing  health  had 
compelled  him  to  leave  his  work  and  spend  the  harsh  winter 
months  in  the  far  South.  But  in  his  brilliant  eye  there  was  the 
spirit  of  heroic  daring,  and  in  his  great  heart  the  quenchless  fires 
of  a  passionate  love  for  souls.  That  young  man  was  Mellville  B. 
Cox.  He  sought  an  interview  with  the  Bishop,  and  said  :  "I  desire 
very  much  to  be  sent  as  a  missionary  to  South  America."  ''Why 
not  to  Liberia?"  asked  the  Bishop,  who  had  been  trying  to  secure 
a  man  for  that  far-away  and  dangerous  field.  After  a  prayerful 
pause,  he  replied  :  "If  the  Lord  will,  I  think  I  will  go."  Shortly 
thereafter  he  said :  "Liberia  is  swallowing  up  my  thoughts."  A 
few  days  later  he  exclaimed  :  "I  thirst  to  be  on  the  way.  .  . 
A  grave  in  Africa  will  be  sweet  to  me  if  He  sustains  me."  Writing 
to  an  intimate  friend,  he  said  :  ''If  it  please  God  that  my  bones 
shall  lie  in  an  African  grave,  I  shall  have  established  such  a  bond 
between  Africa  and  the  Church  at  home  as  shall  not  be  broken 
until  Africa  be  redeemed."  And  that  prophecy  is  being  fulfilled. 
The  missionary's  heroic  grave  has  bound  the  heart  of  the  evan- 
gelical Church  to  the  Dark  Continent.  When  the  voting  hero  lay 
dying  with  the  African  fever,  he  repeated  with  pallid  lips  the  elo- 
quent words  he  had  uttered  before  leaving  America :  "Though  a 
thousand  fall,  let  not  Africa  be  given  up."  Mellville  Cox  has  left 
this  lesson  as  a  glorious  legacy  to  the  Church — that  hi'c  for  Christ- 
Jess  souls  is  stronger  than  lore  of  life. 

Among  all  the  sons  of  the  mighty  there  is  no  nobler  figure  than 
David  Living-stone.     A  native  of  Scotland,  converted  at  twenty, 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  331 


.AI.I.OVVAY. 


and  for  forty  years  a  missionary  in  Africa,  he  worthily  sleeps  in 
Westminster  Abbey  amid  the  "bonny  dust"  of  the  United  King- 
dom. He  prepared  for  work  in  China,  but  was  providentially  di-  David 
rected  to  Africa.  When  consulted  by  the  London  Missionary  So-  Li™gstone. 
ciety  as  to  what  field  he  preferred,  he  said  :  "I  am  ready  to  go  any- 
where, provided  only  it  be  forward."  His  last  public  utterance 
in  his  native  Scotland  was  to  a  school,  and  these  were  his  con- 
cluding words  :  "Fear  God  and  work  hard."  That  was  the  inspir- 
ing motto  of  his  laborious  life.  As  either  explorer,  traveler, 
geographer,  astronomer,  botanist,  zoologist,  physician,  or  mis- 
sionary, he  would  have  been  among  the  most  distinguished  of 
men.  He  added  to  the  known  regions  of  the  world  a  million 
square  miles.  His  labors  knew  no  bounds.  When  entreated  to 
rest,  he  replied :  "Death  alone  will  put  a  stop  to  my  efforts."  So 
deep  and  pure  was  his  piety  that  savages  trusted  him,  the  world 
admired  him,  and  his  friends  almost  adored  him.  When  we  think 
of  this  man,  decorated  by  geographical  and  scientific  societies,  of- 
fered the  freedom  of  great  cities,  publicly  thanked  by  Queen  and 
Parliament,  sleeping  on  the  coarse,  damp  grass,  eating  bird  seed, 
roots,  and  African  maize,  forty  times  scorched  with  fever,  his  arm 
torn  by  the  tooth  of  a  lion,  and  all  to  serve  and  save  the  savage 
tribes  of  the  Dark  Continent,  he  stands  out  transfigured  like  one 
of  the  tall  angels  Isaiah  saw  next  the  throne  of  God.  Three  scenes 
in  his  noble  life  are  most  prominent  and  pathetic.  First,  when  he 
turned  away  from  his  dear  Mary's  grave  at  Shapanga  in  1860  to 
"find  the  only  balm  for  his  broken  heart  in  seeking  Africa's  re- 
demption;'' second,  when  in  1863  he  expected  recall  from  the 
field  and  his  great  heart  protested,  crying  out,  "If  I  am  to  go  on 
the  shelf,  let  that  shelf  be  Africa;"  and  the  third,  when,  though 
feeble  and  nearing  the  grave,  he  resisted  Stanley's  entreaties  to 
return  with  him  to  England,  bade  his  clear  friend  good-by,  and 
turned  back  in  the  wilderness  to  labor  for  a  while  and  die  on  his  arTincarnate 
knees  in  prayer.  David  Livingstone  has  left  the  Church  the  Ifs-  conscience. 
son  of  an  incarnated  conscience. 

But  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Robert  Morrison  and  James  W. 
Lambuth,  of  Adoniram  Judson,  of  James  Calvert,  of  Robert  Mof- 
fat,  of  J.  W.  Roger  and  R.  W.  MacDonell,  of  Dora  Rankin  and  B, 

Laura  Haygood  and  scores  of  others  who  have  wrought  right- 
eously,  and    whose   immortal  achievements   are   written   in   the 


332 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GALLOWAY. 


A  vision:  who 
shall  have 
China? 


chronicles  of  the  skies.    Lord  God  of  these  ascended  Elijahs,  be 
our  God  and  answer  us  by  fire ! 

My  brethren,  the  conviction  grows  on  me  that  momentous 
issues  are  before  the  Church.  We  are  facing  a  wonderful  to- 
morrow. Mighty  changes  are  taking  place  in  all  Eastern  coun- 
tries and  with  marvelous  rapidity.  The  sons  of  God,  girded  with 
new  power,  must  be  up  and  doing.  If  this  transition  period  is 
slighted  or  unimproved,  another  century  of  sin  and  sorrow  may  be 
our  condemnation. 

A  letter  written  by  one  of  the  returned  missionaries  attending 
this  Conference,  referring  to  a  great  work  of  grace  in  his  charge 
and  to  the  rapidly  changing  conditions  in  China,  uttered  these 
w'ords,  which  have  the  quiver  of  power :  "The  kingdom  is  under 
the  hammer,  and  the  devil  is  an  active  bidder."  What  a  figure — 
"under  the  hammer!"  A  mighty  nation  of  four  hundred  million 
immortal  souls  on  the  block !  The  spiritual  and  political  destiny 
of  the  oldest  and  largest  empire  of  the  \vorld  about  to  be  knocked 
off  to  the  highest  bidder !  My  brethren,  when  I  read  those  words 
from  that  warm-hearted  and  strong-souled  missionary,  I  had  a 
vision.  I  saw  the  day  of  sale  when  a  mighty  nation  with  a  long 
history  and  almost  infinite  resources  was  about  to  change  hands. 
The  scene  was  in  Pekin,  the  capital  of  the  vast  empire.  The- 
Genius  of  History,  standing  on  the  ruins  of  an  old  Buddhist  tem- 
ple, with  the  golden  mace  of  authority  in  one  hand  and  the  blank 
form  of  a  title  deed  in  the  other,  acted  as  auctioneer.  Around  him 
gathered  on  one  side  the  representatives  of  every  false  religion  and 
every  form  of  skepticism,  while  just  behind  them  stood  the  great 
enemy,  alert  and  eager,  and  full  of  fiendish  suggestions  lest  the 
kingdom  over  which  he  has  long  held  sway  should  slip  from  his 
grasp.  On  the  other  side  were  the  representatives  of  the  Christian 
Church,  men  and  women  of  many  names  but  animated  by  the 
same  spirit ;  and  behind  them  stood  the  Lord  Christ  with  divine 
anxiety,  watching  the  result  of  the  contest,  waiting  to  see  what 
his  children  will  do  with  his  inheritance,  the  priceless  purchase  of 
his  blood.  Over  them  hovered  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses — 
the  spirits  of  those  who  had  toiled  and  suffered  and  died  for  the 
heathen  of  many  lands.  There  were  William  Carey  and  Adoni- 
ram  Judson,  Thomas  Coke  and  Dr.  Duff,  Mellville  Cox  and  Davin 
Livingstone,  Robert  Morrison  and  James  W.  Lambuth,  Mrs 
Judson  and  Dora  Rankin,  and  a  vast  company  I  could  not  nun:- 


LESSONS    FROM    MASTER    MISSIONARIES.  333 


JALLOWAY. 


her,  all  bending  low  their  eager  ears  to  hear  the  final  result.  The 
Genius  of  History  stated  the  terms  of  sale.  It  required  a  vast  out- 
lay in  order  to  secure  this  magnificent  possession,  adjust  it  to  new 
conditions,  and  garrison  it  against  foreign  invasion.  It  was  a  su- 
preme hour,  an  hour  on  which  eternal  ages  seem  to  hang.  The 
representatives  of  the  Christian  Church  had  it  in  their  glowing 
hearts  to  offer  any  terms,  to  call  out  the  highest  figures  and  claim 
the  inheritance,  but  were  afraid  the  Church  would  not  indorse  the 
purchase.  Often  they  had  appealed  in  vain  for  help  in  adding 
another  province  to  the  Lord's  kingdom,  and  now  in  an  agony  of 
anxiety  knew  not  what  to  do.  And  just  then,  in  that  moment  of 
awful  suspense,  the  vision  mercifully  vanished.  But,  my  dear 
brethren,  the  fact  remains  and  the  mighty  responsibility  abides.  The  church  is 
I  believe  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Church  to  secure  that  uttermost  aDle  to  lmy- 
part  of  the  earth  for  our  Lord's  possession.  Shall  we  redeem  that 
purchase  of  his  blood  or  allow  the  devil  to  renew  his  lease  for 
another  mournful  century?  If  we  cannot  do  more,  let  us  make 
the  purchase  and  give  bond  for  payment.  Is  there  not  another 
\Yilbur  Fisk  who  will  rise  up  in  the  majesty  of  a  sublime  faith  and 
say:  "/'//  be  bondsman  for  the  Church:'"  The  security  on  such  a 
bond  will  never  suffer;  that  paper  will  never  go  to  protest.  The 
men  and  women  are  ready  and  eager  to  go,  and  I  believe  the 
means  will  not  be  withheld.  Heaven  grant  that  Zion  may  be 
equal  to  her  sublime  opportunity ! 

That  was  a  thrilling  story  brought  to  us  yesterday  by  Mr. 
Gamewell.  During  the  recent  siege  in  Pekin  an  old  cannon. 
afterwards  called  the  "international  gun,"  was  brought  into  use. 
Everything  available  was  utilized  during  those  awful  days  of  strain 
and  peril.  Hands  unused  to  labor  were  active  in  providing  means  value  of  unity, 
of  defense.  Missionaries  became  military  engineers,  and  every 
living  soul  was  either  a  sentinel  or  a  soldier.  Weapons  were 
comparatively  few,  and  some  unfit  for  use.  One  old  discarded 
cannon,  however,  has  become  historic.  It  was  brought  out  and 
made  ready  for  service.  Mounted  on  an  Austrian  carriage,  load- 
ed with  German  powder  and  Russian  shells,  the  old  English  six- 
pounder  was  fired  by  the  skilled  hand  and  trained  eye  of  an  Ameri- 
can gunner.  So  all  the  Powers  united  in  the  fire  of  that  old  gun 
against  a  common  enemy.  O  how  1  wish  there  could  be  such  a 
concert  in  the  now  desperate  conflict  with  the  enemies  of  our 
Christian  religion  !  I  would  have  ever}-  projectile  fly  with  the  mo- 


334  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

mentum  given  by  the  united  prayer  and  faith  of  the  whole  Church 
of  God.  I  would  have  every  standard  of  our  holy  faith  defended 
in  its  place  by  the  strength  of  all  our  hearts  and  all  our  hands.  O, 
brothers  of  our  Elder  Brother,  brave  spirits  of  the  East  and  the 
West,  pastors  and  people,  missionaries  and  members,  men  and 
women,  let  us  join  in  one  supreme  effort  to  plant  our  flag  in  every 
land  and  give  the  whole  world  the  gospel  during  the  opening  years 
of  this  new  century. 


FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


GENERAL  REVIEW. 
I.    CHINA. 
II.    MEXICO. 

III.  BRAZIL. 

IV.  JAPAN. 
Y.  KOREA. 


General  Review. 


THE  HISTORY,  POLICY,  AND  OUTLOOK  OF  THE 

FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  WORK  OF  THE 
M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

\\  .    R.    LAMBUTH,    D.D.,    SECRETARY. 

THE  growth  and  development  of  the  foreign  missionary  work  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  has  been  a  remarkable 
record  of  human  effort  and  divine  leadership.  It  is  true  that  we 
have  been  engaged  a  full  half  century  in  the  great  work  of  evan- 
gelizing the  world,  but  circumstances  over  which  the  Church  had 
little  or  no  control  left  us,  at  the  close  of  the  first  period  of  twenty- 
five  years,  with  one  feeble  mission  and  two  married  missionaries — 
almost  where  we  began.  It  was  from  the  inception  of  the  second 
period  that  an  era  of  expansion  opened,  leading  to  the  establish- 
ment of  five  additional  foreign  missions  and  the  gathering  of  a  great 
host.  May  the  good  work  go  on,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  whom  we  come  to  honor  this  day,  until  our  standards  are 
planted  in  every  waste  place  and  the  gospel  shall  be  preached  to 
tvery  creature ! 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1848,  just  fifty-three  years  from  the  opening 
day  of  this  great  Missionary  Conference,  our  first  missionaries  to 
foreign  lands,  Charles  Taylor  and  Benjamin  Jenkins,  with  their 
wives,  sailed  from  Boston  to  Shanghai,  China.  As  the  little  ship  ni 
Cleon,  of  only  390  tons  burden,  swung  from  her  moorings,  the  mis- 
sionary hymn  floated  out  over  the  harbor.  It  was  sung  by  the 
Northern  Methodist  friends  on  the  wharf,  who  a  few  minutes  be- 
fore had  commended  them  to  God  in  prayer.  Only  four  years  had 
elapsed  since  the  Church  had  divided,  but  in  this  reunion  of  kindred 
spirits  we  catch  the  prophecy  of  that  fellowship  in  work  and  in  suf- 
fering which,  on  the  foreign  field,  has  ever  demonstrated  our  one- 
ness in  Christ.  On  reaching  Shanghai  they  were  received  and  en- 
tertained by  the  missionaries  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
who  assisted  them  in  renting  a  house  and  in  procuring  a  teacher — 
another  illustration  of  the  spirit  which  animates  the  missionary 
brotherhood. 


338 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


LAMBUTH. 


Among  the 
slaves. 


Our  first 
missionary 
to  China. 


The  South  Carolina  Conference  may  well  be  styled  "The  Mother 
of  Missions."  On  the  marble  shaft  which  marks  the  resting  place 
of  Bishop  William  Capers  in  the  city  of  Columbia  are  the  words : 
"The  Founder  of  Missions  to  the  Slaves."  The  zeal  of  the  Meth- 
odist preachers  in  that  section  for  the  salvation  of  the  negroes  was 
an  inspiration  to  all  the  Southern  Conferences.  "The  annals  of  mis- 
sionary toil,"  writes  Dr.  I.  G.  John,  "can  furnish  few  nobler  evi- 
dences of  heroic  sacrifice  than  were  found  in  the  self-denying  efforts 
of  those  men  who  labored  on  the  negro  missions.  On  the  rice 
plantations  of  the  Atlantic  coast  and  the  sugar  and  cotton  planta- 
tions of  the  Gulf  States  they  bore  the  message  of  life  to  the  cabins 
of  the  slave,  teaching  the  children  and  training  their  parents  re- 
specting the  doctrines  and  duties  that  must  govern  a  Christian  life. 
Every  Christian  master  and  mistress  cooperated  gladly  in  the  work. 

.  .  In  1860,  when  the  war  disturbed  our  labors  among  these 
people,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  reported  a  colored 
membership  of  207,776,  or  nearly  as  many  as  the  entire  number  of 
communicants  that,  in  that  day,  had  been  gathered  into  Church 
relations  by  all  the  Protestant  missionaries  at  work  in  the  heathen 
world.  When  the  record  of  the  evangelization  of  the  sons  of  Ham 
is  written  by  the  pen  of  an  impartial  historian,  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sionaries of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church  will  appear  chief  among 
the  agencies  employed  by  our  Master  for  the  redemption  of  the 
African  race." 

Capers  may  also  be  regarded  as  "the  pioneer  of  Methodist  mis- 
sions among  the  Indians  of  the  Southern  States."  In  1822,  six 
years  before  systematic  effort  was  organized  for  the  negroes,  he 
was  appointed  the  first  superintendent  of  Asbury  Mission  among  the 
Creek  Indians,  with  Rev.  Isaac  Hill  as  missionary. 

It  was  to  this  man,  then  a  presiding  elder,  of  catholic  spirit  and 
world-wide  vision,  that  Charles  Taylor,  who  had  joined  the  South 
Carolina  Conference,  opened  his  heart,  saying:  "If  the  Church  de- 
cides to  establish  a  mission  in  Persia,  India,  or  China,  I  am  willing 
to  go  where  I  am  needed  most."  In  William  Capers  the  Lord  had 
provided  a  wonderful  organizer  of  missionary  movements ;  in 
Charles  Taylor  we  have  a  man  providentially  qualified  for  laying 
foundations  that  will  abide.  Hewn  from  the  granite  rock  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, it  was  his  character,  pure  and  crystalline,  which  won 
the  Chinese.  An  honor  graduate  of  the  University  of  New  York, 
where  he  assisted  Professor  Morse  in  his  first  experiments  in  telegra- 


MISSIONARY   WORK   OF  THE   M.    E.    CHURCH,    SOUTH.          339 


I.AMBL'TII. 


phy,  a  teacher  in  the  Conference  school  at  Cokesbury,  S.  C.,  and 
junior  preacher  on  the  Darlington  Circuit,  he  was,  in  scholarly  and 
scientific  attainments,  in  medical  training,  and  by  personal  piety, 
singularly  adapted  to  the  work  to  which  he  was  called. 

Taylor  and  Jenkins  were  followed  in  1852  by  W.  G.  E.  Cunnyng- 
ham  and  wife,  and  in  1854  by  J.  S.  Belton,  D.  C.  Kelley,  J.  W. 
Lambuth,  and  their  wives ;  while  in  1859  tne  mission  was  once 
more  reenforced  by  two  married  missionaries,  Young  J.  Allen  and  His  succes- 
M.  L.  Wood.  These  last  would  have  brought  the  number  up  to  sors> 
sixteen,  at  the  end  of  twelve  years,  had  the  others  been  able  to  hold 
their  ground ;  but  four  months  of  close  confinement  aboard  ship, 
during  which  time  they  twice  passed  through  the  tropics,  the  deadly 
climate  of  Shanghai,  then  a  malarial  swamp,  and  constant  exposure 
to  attacks  by  day  and  alarms  by  night  from  the  Taiping  rebels,  led 
to  the  complete  breakdown  of  one  after  another  until,  at  the  opening 
of  the  civil  war,  the  mission  had  dwindled  down  to  its  original 
number. 

Few  can  realize  the  odds  with  which  those  early  missionaries  con- 
tended.    Mails  from  home  came  only  three  or  four  times  a  year, 
and  tho'se  brought  inadequate  funds ;  the  written  language  was  an 
unknown  quantity,  and  there  were  few  helps  to  its  exploration  and  Earlytnais 
mastery;  the  Chinaman  himself  was  even  more  difficult  to  under-  andobsta- 
stand ;  malarial  fever,  cholera,  and  smallpox  preyed  upon  the  little 
band ;  the  Taiping  rebellion  paralyzed  local  effort ;  and,  as  if  to  give 
the  coup  de  grace  to  the  struggling  mission,  the  civil  war  in   the 
United  States  cut  off,  at  last,  every  avenue  of  support. 

The  curtain  falls,  and  for  ten  long  years  there  is  an  ominous 
silence.  Rarely,  in  the  annals  of  missionary  effort,  has  there  been 
a  more  tragic  -record.  In  the  Western  Hemisphere  the  Church  is 
turned  into  a  soldiers'  camp,  her  homes  despoiled,  her  altars  broken 
down,  and  her  ministry  busied  with  the  dead  and  dying  strewn  over  An  ominous 
the  field  of  battle.  In  the  Eastern  Hemisphere,  on  the  picket  line,  3llence- 
two  heroic  men  stand  alone,  not  knowing  how  to  sound  a  retreat. 
Ten  thousand  miles  away,  and  for  a  decade  almost  lost  to  view, 
they  seem  to  have  been  abandoned  ;  but  God  was  with  them  and 
their  wives  through  all  that  long  night  of  toil.  Up  from  the  wres- 
tling till  the  break  of  day  has  grown  an  unconquerable  faith  which 
has  "subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises, 
and  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions." 

The  first  twenty-five  years  closed  in  18/3,  when  we  occupied  only 


340 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


LAMBUTH. 


End  of  first 
period. 


Record  of 

the  second. 


Mexico. 


Eraail. 


one  foreign  field — China — and  our  missionary  force  consisted  of 
only  two  missionaries  and  their  wives,  three  native  preachers,  four 
Bible  women,  seventy-four  native  communicants,  and  a  contribu- 
tion of  less  than  $100  for  all  purposes. 

The  second  period  of  twenty-five  years  has  just  ended  with  our 
occupation  of  six  foreign  fields — China,  Japan,  Korea,  Brazil,  Mex- 
ico, and  Cuba.  In  these  fields  we  have  193  missionaries,  100  native 
traveling  preachers,  or  twenty-six  more  than  our  entire  member- 
ship twenty-five  years  ago ;  10,959  members,  an  increase  of  856  dur- 
ing the  past  year;  65  Bible  women;  over  5,000  women  and  children 
under  instruction ;  6  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  in  which  more  than 
13,000  patients  are  treated  annually;  mission  property  valued  at 
$898,803,  with  $31,287.31  raised  for  all  purposes  last  year,  which  in- 
cludes $12,252  already  paid  on  a  Twentieth  Century  Thank  Offering 
of  $30,000  (United  States  currency).  Surely  we  can  thank  God  and 
take  courage. 

The  opening  of  the  fields,  one  by  one,  after  the  planting 
of  our  work  in  China  was  a  succession  of  wonderful  providences. 
Alejo  Hernandez,  a  soldier  and  an  avowed  infidel,  wandering  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  meets  with  a  book  containing  quota- 
tions from  the  Scripture,  and  is  led  to  Christ.  At  Brownsville,  Tex., 
upon  hearing  a  hymn  sung  by  a  devout  congregation,  he  burst  into 
tears,  and  afterwards  wrote :  "I  felt  that  God's  Spirit  was  there  ;  and, 
though  I  could  not  understand  a  word  that  was  said,  I  felt  my  heart 
strangely  warmed."  One  thousand  miles  to  the  south  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  Sostenes  Juarez,  who  organized  the 
first  Protestant  Church  in  the  republic,  was  at  this  time  preaching 
every  Sunday  in  an  upper  room  to  a  group  of  earnest  believers,  who, 
like  himself,  had  been  brought  to  Christ  through  the  prayerful  study 
of  a  "French  Bible  brought  into  the  country  by  a  Catholic  priest" 
who  accompanied  Maximilian's  army.  Juarez  and  Hernandez  met 
later,  after  Bishop  Keener,  in  1873,  na<^  laid  the  foundation  of  our 
mission  in  Mexico,  where  we  now  have  three  Annual  Conferences, 
60  Mexican  preachers,  and  5,788  members. 

In  1874  a  wide  and  open  door  presented  itself  in  Brazil.  Through 
the  labors  of  Rev.  J.  E.  Newman,  who.  journeying  thither  at  the 
close  of  the  civil  war.  had  wrought  so  faithfully  in  the  schoolroom 
and  on  the  coffee  plantations,  an  urgent  plea  came  to  the  Church  to 
send  out  missionaries.  Rev.  J.  J.  Ransom  volunteered,  and  ren- 
dered heroic  service  in  organizing  and  superintending  a  mission 


MISSIONARY   WORK   OF   THE   M.    E.    CHURCH,    SOUTH.          34! 


LAMBUTH. 


which,  in  the  early  years  of  its  history,  he  was  largely  obliged  to 
support  with  his  own  hands.  The  Brazil  Mission  Conference  num- 
bers to-day  12  native  preachers  and  2,785  members,  with  a  gain 
during  the  past  year  of  429,  or  nearly  half  the  increase  on  all  our 
mission  fields. 

Japan  has  fast  become  a  determining  force  in  shaping  the  future 
of  China  and  Korea.  Bishop  Keener  offered  the  resolution  which 
led  to  an  appropriation  for  opening  a  mission  in  the  empire  in  1886, 
and  Bishop  McTyeire,  then  in  charge  of  our  work  in  Asia,  appointed  japan. 
J.  W.  Lambuth,  W.  R.  Lambuth,  and  O.  A.  Dukes  to  this  promising 
field.  Within  eight  weeks  of  their  landing  in  Kobe,  July  26,  1886, 
T.  Sunamoto  ("the  converted  pilot")  returned  from  San  Francisco 
in  quest  of  his  old  Buddhist  mother,  praying  earnestly  that  he  might 
lead  her  to  Christ.  His  appeal  to  Dr.  J.  W.  Lambuth  in  behalf  of 
his  people  in  the  great  city  of  Hiroshima  drew  the  attention  of  the 
mission  to  the  Inland  Sea,  where  the  work  has  gone  on  until  a 
cordon  of  stations  has  been  thrown  around  that  body  of  water,  which 
gives  us  access  to  a  population  of  15,000,000.  Our  12  native  preach- 
ers and  688  members  are  pressing  the  battle  to  the  very  gates. 

The  conversion  of  T.  H.  Yun,  in  Shanghai,  and  his  subsequent 
appeal  to  enter  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  became  to  us  a  Macedonian 
cry.  Like  Daniel  of  old,  this  man  of  plain  living  and  high  thinking 
has  for  years  held  up  before  his  people,  and  even  in  the  court  of  the  Korea, 
king,  the  loftiest  standards  of  personal  character  and  official  admin- 
istration. While  Minister  of  Education  it  was  said  of  him  by  enemies 
and  friends  alike:  "He  is  the  only  Korean  official  who  is  too  honest 
to  become  rich."  Appointed  superintendent  by  Bishop  Hendrix  in 
1895,  Dr.  C.  F.  Reid,  in  company  with  the  Bishop,  established  a 
mission  in  Korea,  which  has  been  pronounced  "the  most  promising 
of  all  our  fields." 

Our  first  work  in  Havana  was  organized  in  1896,  and  in  1898 
Cuba  was  taken  under  the  control  of  the  Board  as  a  regular  mission 
field.  We  are  establishing  ourselves  firmly  on  the  island,  as  is  shown 
by  the  erection  of  a  substantial  stone  church  in  Matanzas,  and  the 
purchase  by  Bishop  Cancller  for  $15,000  of  a  centrally  located  prop- 
erty in  Havana,  well  adapted  for  church  and  school  purposes.  The 
work  has  grown  steadily,  there  being  a  marked  increase  over  last 
year.  We  have  now  a  membership  of  499,  with  collections  for  all 
purposes  amounting  to  $3,777.92. 

The  missionary  fires  kindled  by  faithful  women  upon  the  altars 


342 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Woman's 
work. 


Principles 
of  mission 
wori. 


of  our  homes  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  the 
years  1872  and  1874  were  used  of  God  to  stimulate  the  whole 
Church  to  renewed  effort  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  In 
1873  tne  Mexico  Mission  was  founded  ;  in  1875  A.  P.  Parker  reached 
China — the  first  reinforcement  in  ten  years;  on  February  2,  1876, 
J.  J.  Ransom  set  foot  in  Brazil ;  and  in  1878  the  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  was  organized. 

Such  was  the  influence  of  the  intercessory  prayers  of  women  like 
Mrs.  Margaret  Lavinia  Kelley,  Mrs.  Juliana  Hayes,  and  Mrs.  D.  H. 
McGavock.  The  Woman's  Board  at  once  sent  Miss  Lochie  Rankin 
to  China  as  its  first  representative.  With  tireless  effort,  unselfish  de- 
votion, and  great  wisdom  these  women  have  carried  forward  their 
work  until  their  missionaries,  to  the  number  of  55,  are  laboring  in 
five  of  our  foreign  fields,  sustained  by  35  Conference  Societies  and 
73,000  members  at  home,  who  contributed  $82,718.96  during  the 
past  year  to  the  work  in  the  schoolroom,  in  the  hospital,  and  in  the 
field,  where  Bible  women  are  carrying  the  story  from  house  to 
house. 

In  a  recent  volume  on  "Present  Day  Problems  of  Christian 
Thought,"  Rev.  H.  AI.  AIcKim,  D.D.,  of  Washington  City,  gives 
his  ideas  of  a  policy  in  the  development  and  administration  of  for- 
eign missions,  which  Dr.  Mudge  has  condensed  for  us.  The  state- 
ment is  so  admirable  that  I  quote  it :  "(i)  A  prominent  place  should 
be  given  to  the  larger  and  braver  use  of  native  Christian  evangelists  ; 
apostolic  precedent  is  certainly  in  favor  of  recruiting  agents  in  the 
country  which  we  seek  to  conquer.  (2)  The  substance  of  the  teach- 
ing needs  to  be  carefully  watched.  We  are  not  sent  to  teach  a 
moral  system,  an  ecclesiastical  system,  a  dogmatic  system.  Not 
these,  but  the  personal,  living  Christ,  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels.  In 
too  many  cases  we  have  unconsciously  Europeanized  the  image  of 
Christ.  .  .  .  He  is  the  Son  of  Alan ;  we  must  not  represent  him 
as  the  son  of  a  race  or  even  of  a  civilization.  (3)  The  right  men 
must  be  sent  to  preach  Christ  to  these  people — the  best,  the  ablest, 
and  most  broadly  cultured  men,  specially  trained  for  the  work.  (4) 
The  ultimate  purpose  of  our  missions  must  not  be  to  establish  a 
new  branch  of  this  or  that  denomination,  but  to  plant  the  seed  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  soil,  and  let  it  develop  that  form  of  Christianity 
best  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  country  in  which  it  is  planted.  The 
great  fundamentals,  of  course,  must  be  safeguarded,  but  beyond 


MISSIONARY   WORK   OF   THE   M.    E.    CHURCH,    SOUTH.          343 


LAMliUTH. 


these  limits  the  utmost  freedom  of  development  both  in  ritual  and 
ecclesiastical  order  should  be  allowed." 

These  are  broad  statements,  and  should  not  be  misinterpreted. 
The  author  seeks  the  spirit  and  not  the  letter,  the  substance  and 
not  the  form.  Our  Board  of  Missions  has  a  missionary  policy.  In  our  policy, 
the  foreign  field  it  is  that  of  intrenching  its  forces  strongly  in  stra- 
tegic centers,  pressing  the  evangelistic  work,  developing  a  trained 
native  agency,  and  the  encouragement  of  a  spirit  of  self-support  as 
a  means  to  the  building  of  character  in  the  native  Church  and  the 
wider  propagation  of  the  gospel.  This  policy  embraces,  moreover, 
the  coordination  of  the  evangelistic,  educational,  literary,  and  med- 
ical departments,  making  them  interdependent  in  relationship  and 
a  unit  in  action.  It  was  not  formulated  in  the  beginning — it  has 
been  a  growth. 

Some  mistakes  have  been  made  in  the  administration  of  work 
covering  so  much  territory  and  involving  so  many  problems.  From 

the  inauguration  of  our  first  mission  there  has  been  an  inadequate 

Inadequate 

equipment  for  work,  entailing  a  loss  of  efficiency  and  power  to  the  support, 
worker.  We  find  Dr.  Taylor  in  Shanghai  constantly  sending  his 
patients  to  the  London  Mission  Hospital  from  lack  of  funds  and 
accommodations.  Our  missionaries  in  Korea  and  Cuba  have  been 
on  meager  appropriations  from  the  beginning,  and  in  Brazil,  Mex- 
ico, and  Japan  we  have  been  sorely  handicapped  from  the  same 
cause  in  our  educational  and  publishing  enterprises. 

In  some  cases  undue  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  educational 
work,  and  in  advance  of  the  growth  of  the  native  Church.  In  others 
magnificent  opportunity  has  passed  unrecognized  or  been  inade- 
quately provided  for.  The  power  of  the  press  and  of  medical  work 
as  a  pioneer  agency  has  been  underestimated,  while  much  valuable 
time  has  been  wasted  on  unauthorized  translation,  and  in  efforts 
which  were  purely  experimental,  whether  on  literary  lines  or  in  the 
occupation  of  fields  afterwards  abandoned. 

I  am  convinced,  after  long  and  careful  study  of  the  subject,  that 
the  organization  of  missions  into  small  Annual  Conferences  has  in 
several  instances  been  premature,  and  resulted  for  years  in  arrested 
development.  The  loss  of  efficient  leadership  in  a  voung  and  viaro- 

.      .  ......  „    .  &_.      Doubtful 

rous  mission  under  a  central  administration  is  not  sufficiently  oft-   measures. 
set  by  the  autonomy  secured  for  a  weak  and  struggling  Conference 
which  continues  to  be  subsidized  by  the  Board  of  Missions.    Again, 
where  the  native  membership  in  a  small  Annual  Conference  out- 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Recommen- 
dations. 


The  Board 
itself. 


Equipment 
of  the  Cen- 
tral Office. 


numbers  the  missionary  force,  who  naturally  constitute  the  teachers 
and  glides  of  the  infant  Church,  the  cause  of  Christ  has  suffered 
more  than  once  from  zeal  without  knowledge  and  the  ill-directed 
efforts  of  irresponsible  leaders. 

A  last  mistake,  and  one  which  applies  to  several  of  our  missions 
to-day,  is  the  transfer  of  the  machinery  of  the  full-grown  Church 
at  home,  with  its  almost  numberless  societies  and  collections,  to  the 
native  Church  abroad  in  its  immature  and  undeveloped  state.  The 
result  has  been  almost  complete  paralysis  from  over-stimulation. 

After  this  brief  review  of  the  history  and  policy  of  our  foreign 
missionary  work,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  make  a  few  recom- 
mendations suggested  by  the  study  of  the  situation  : 

1.  Readjustment  in  the  composition  of  the  Board,  providing  for 
a  larger  representation  of  laymen ;  a  closer  relation  between  the 
Annual  Conference  Boards  of  Missions  and  the  General  Board ;  the 
holding  of  midyear  meetings  in  every  Annual  Conference,  in  which 
the  presiding  elders,  Epworth  Leagues,  and  Sunday  schools  shall  be 
represented;  increased  emphasis  placed  upon  the  preparation  and 
wide  dissemination  of  literature  adapted  to  meet  the  demands  of  a 
new  era  in  missions ;  and  the  organization  of  classes  for  the  sys- 
tematic study  of  missions  in  our  colleges,  Woman's  Missionary  So- 
cieties, Epworth  Leagues,  and  Sunday  schools. 

2.  That  the  Board  of  Missions  extend  its  annual  sessions  to  at 
least  three  days,  and  meet  from  year  to  year  in  different  sections  of 
the  Church ;  that  two  or  more  carefully  prepared  papers  be  read 
at  each  meeting,  to  be  followed  by  a  conference  rather  than  by  a  dis- 
cussion— leading  to  the  adoption  of  definite  and  helpful  action. 

3.  A  more  thorough  organization  of  the  office  force,  securing  a 
well-furnished  bureau  of  information ;  a  staff  of  assistant  or  depart- 
mental secretaries  who  can  be  trained  for  the  work ;  a  larger  clerical 
force  of  skilled  workers ;  and  an  equipment  which  would  bring  the 
administrative   department   abreast   of  any   business    office   in   the 
country.     The  Church  must  provide  twentieth  century  equipment, 
if  she  would  grasp  twentieth  century  opportunity. 

The  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  with  its  central  office  in  Chicago 
and  its  division  headquarters  in  New  Orleans,  controls  5,000  miles 
of  track ;  we  work  in  six  great  mission  fields,  two  of  which  are  lar- 
ger in  area  than  the  United  States.  They  show  a  passenger  list  of 
16,000,000,  while  we  have  a  population  of  50,000,000  within  that  por- 
tion of  the  fields  we  occupy.  In  the  Illinois  Central  the  one  item 


MISSIONARY  WORK   OF  THE   M.    E.    CHURCH,    SOUTH.         345 

of  stationery  amounts  to  $34,000  per  annum,  while  we  expend  less  l 
than  $4,000.    The  salaries  of  the  officials  of  this  road  aggregate  the 
sum  of  $157,000 ;  ours  amount  to  only  $6,800.    The  sum  total  of  the  A  compari- 
salaries  of  the  clerks  and  attendants  of  the  railroad  is  $206,057  per  son- 
year,  while  that  of  the  employees  of  the  Board  of  Missions  is  $2,700. 
Their  office  expense  and  supplies  amount  to  $102,000 ;  ours  is  less 
than  $20,000.     In  the  New  Orleans  department  or  division  office 
there  are  forty  employees,  while  our  central  office  in  Nashville  is 
supplied  with  but  two  clerks  and  one  stenographer.    The  contrast 
becomes  too  painful  to  be  carried  farther.     Equipment  for  world- 
wide evangelization  in  the  light  of  such  figures  is  reduced  to  an 
absurdity.    Let  the  Church  look  the  facts  squarely  in  the  face,  and 
provide  means  commensurate  with  the  enterprise  before  us.    I  trust 
I  may  live  to  hear  the  click  of  fifty  typewriters  in  our  missionary 
office. 

4.  The  establishment  of  a  system  of  city  missions  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  General  Board :  the  administration  of  these  missions 
to  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  central  office  through  an  assistant  city 
secretary;  the  missionaries  to  be  accepted  for  service  by  the  Com-  missions:  a 
mittee  on  Candidates,  as  in  the  case  of  foreign  missions ;  their  ap-  needed, 
pointment  to  be  made  by  the  bishops  in  charge  of  the  Annual  Con- 
ferences in  which  they  are  to  be  employed ;  their  support  to  be  as- 
sumed by  the  Churches  of  the  city  or  town  in  which,  under  suitable 
conditions,  the  mission  is  to  be  established,  and  the  relation  of  such 
work  upon  the  part  of  the  General  Board  to  the  Woman's  Home 
Mission  Society  to  be  thoroughly  sympathetic  and  cooperative  at 
every  point.  Is  this  a  new  departure?  We  face  "a  condition,  not 
a  theory."  The  expansion  in  the  South  of  the  last  three  years  in 
our  commerce,  foreign  and  domestic,  in  our  iron  and  steel  indus- 
tries, in  our  manufacture  and  exportation  of  cotton  goods,  and  re- 
cently in  the  marvelous  output  of  petroleum,  is  but  a  prophecy  of 
what  is  to  be.  The  wealth  of  our  soil,  of  our  climate,  of  our  water- 
ways, and  of  intelligent  enterprise  will  attract  populations  until  the 
cities  of  the  Gulf,  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  of  the  South  Atlantic 
coast  will  be  among  the  greatest  cities  of  the  republic.  Such  a  day 
is  not  far  off.  Let  us  grasp  the  situation,  and,  by  masterful  plans 
growing  out  of  broad  and  statesmenlike  views,  prepare  to  meet 
the  issue.  The  objection  that  this  is  not  foreign  missions  is 
both  feeble  and  captious.  The  foreigners  are  at  our  doors.  We 


346  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

LAMBUTH.     must  give  them  the  gospel  or  perish — both  ourselves  and  our  chil- 
dren.   God  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 

5.  The  inauguration  by  the  Board  of  Missions  of  an  Educational 
Campaign  or  Forward  Movement,  to  begin  upon  the  adjournment 

of  this  Conference,  the  threefold  object  of  which  shall  be  prayer — 
Forward.  J 

unceasing  prayer — to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  personal  work  in  soul- 
winning,  and  missionary  collections  in  full.  The  Board,  in  this 
campaign,  is  to  enlist  and  secure  the  cooperation  of  our  presiding 
elders,  pastors,  laymen,  and  the  women  of  the  Foreign  and  Home 
Missionary  Societies,  together  with  our  young  people  in  Sunday 
schools  and  Epworth  Leagues,  until  every  charge  and  every  member 
is  reached.  It  ought  to  be  done,  and  what  ought  to  be  done  can 
be  done.  Let  us  set  about  it.  The  Master  calls.  Let  the  response 
from  a  million  and  a  half  of  Southern  Methodists  be :  "Speak,  Lord, 
for  thy  servant  heareth." 

As  for  the  outlook  and  the  future,  it  is  with  the  God  of  our 
fathers,  who  has  so  wonderfully  guided  us  in  this  Conference.  This 
is  the  day  of  his  visitation  and  of  his  power.  Our  hearts  have  been 
made  willing.  We  leave  the  future  with  him  who  has  "provided 
some  better  thing  for  us" — ever  "looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith." 


/.    CHINA. 

THE  MISSIONARY   OUTLOOK   IN   THE   FAR   EAST.* 

REV.    YOUNG    J.    ALLEN,    D.D. 

I  APPROACH  the  discussion  of  this  subject  to-night  with  pro- 
found embarrassment  and  awe ;  not  because  of  the  complexity 
and  difficulty  of  the  subject,  not  because  of  the  overwhelming 
presence  of  this  large  congregation,  but  because  I  feel  the  over- 
shadowing presence  of  Him  whose  arms  are  never  unequal. 
God  is  in  the  situation,  and  as  face  answers  to  face  in  a  mirror, 
so  this  Conference  is  a  fitting  counterpart  and  reflection  of  the 
situation  in  the  far  East. 

The  details  of  the  situation  are  numerous  and  complex,  and  it 
is  by  no  means  an  easy  task  to  so  present  them  as  to  render  the 
outlook  perspicuous  and  intelligible.  However,  reference  to  a 
few  of  the  main  facts  may  help  us  to  an  intelligent  apprehension 
of  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  in  the  far  East. 

One  of  the  effects  of  the  war  between  China  and  Japan 
was  the  profound  humiliation  of  the  former,  followed  by  a  cor- 
responding awakening  of  the  government,  and  especially  of  the 
Chinese  people,  who  almost  in  a  national  sense  were  made  will- 
ing to  throw  overboard  their  long-time  obstinate  conservatism 
and  opposition  to  modern  progress.  Reforms  were  forth-  Resu!ts  o{  the 
with  projected,  and  a  new  era  for  China  was  confidently  pro-  war  i-euveen 

China  and 

claimed.  But  alas !  this  movement,  so  spontaneous  and  prom-  Japan 
ising,  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a  counter  movement  or  reaction, 
which  had  for  its  object  and  purpose  not  only  the  suppression 
of  the  reform  movement  among  the  Chinese,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  total  expulsion  of  foreigners  from  the  country  and  the 
extirpation  of  every  vestige  of  their  influence.  It  is  this  reaction 
which  has  given  rise  to  the  situation  as  we  are  now  called  to 
consider  it.  And  just  here  it  is  necessary  to  carefully  note  that 
the  ruling  authority  in  China  is  the  Manchu  Tartars,  a  usurping 

*  Stenographer's  report. 


34$  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

ALLEN.  dynasty  which  has  been  on  the  throne  since  1644,  and  that  the 

present  complication  involves,  first,  a  repressive  conflict  between 
the  conservative  Tartars  and  the  more  enlightened  Chinese,  who, 
ever  since  the  Japan  war,  have  agitated  for  a  relaxation  of  des- 
potism and  the  substitution  of  a  free  constitutional  government ; 
secondly,  and  fundamentally,  it  is  a  conflict  between  the  respective 

Reform.  civilizations  of  the  East  and  the  West.     Such  a  conflict  was  in- 

evitable, was  long  ago  foreseen,  and  is  now  welcomed  as  the 
final  arbitrament  of  the  question  whether  Christ  or  Confucius 
is  to  ultimately  dominate  the  ancient  East. 

But  in  order  to  understand  the  situation  and  to  be  able  to  com- 
prehend and  interpret  the  outlook,  there  are  certain  points  to 
which  your  attention  must  be  directed.  First,  its  origin.  China 
is  an  old  country ;  it  is  a  civilized  country ;  it  is  a  cultured  and 
literary  country ;  it  has  done  great  things  during  the  days  of  its 
long  existence ;  and  it  still  exists  in  one  sense  unimpaired.  It 
may  be  arrested  in  its  development,  but  its  potentialities  are  still 

Chinese  con-       there.    This  great  country  is  conscious  of  its  long  existence  and 

servatism.  of  jf-s  achievements.  Its  egotism,  its  conceit,  its  pride,  are  com- 
mensurate with  its  achievements.  It  is  called  the  Middle  King- 
dom, because  it  supposes  itself  to  be  the  center  of  the  world,  and 
all  the  kingdoms  round  about  it  are  suburban,  if  you  please.  It 
is  also  called  Chung  Hwa,  or  "the  civilized  people."  That  also 
refers  to  its  surroundings,  because  the  Chinese  consider  them- 
selves as  civilized  and  enlightened,  while  all  surrounding  people 
are  in  darkness.  It  is  also  represented  as  a  universal  dominion 
under  the  title  of  Tien  Sha,  or  "all  under  heaven's  concave."  It 
claims  that  there  is  but  one  sun  in  the  heavens,  and  that  upon 
earth  there  is  but  one  ruler,  and  that  ruler  is  the  Emperor  of 
China.  They  have,  therefore,  expressed  themselves  in  almost 
every  form  possible  magnifying  their  importance,  their  achieve- 
ments, and  their  glory;  and  correspondingly  they  have  belittled 
and  minified  the  world  outside.  They  are  the  sun  :  from  them  or 
from  China  radiates  the  light :  she  claims  to  be  the  light  of  Asia. 
As  Japan  is  but  little  removed,  therefore  it  approximates  China, 
and  Korea  approximates  China,  and  other  adjoining  countries 
approximate  China:  but  when  you  come  to  foreign  countries, 
European  countries,  and  countries  of  the  New  World,  then  they 
are  in  the  outer  darkness.  They  are  so  far  away  that  the  Chinese 
maps  have  no  knowledge  of  them  ;  and  when  they  are  mentioned 
at  all — T  don't  speak  of  the  map?  of  the  present  date,  because 


OUTLOOK   IN    THE   FAR   EAST.  349 


ALLEN. 


they  have  recently  adopted  good  maps  and  correct  maps — but 

consulting  their  ancient  maps  you  will  find  that  after  they  heard 

of  England  and  Spain  and  Portugal  and  other  remote  countries, 

they  simply  represented  them  by  small  dots  away  out  in  the   «Foreign 

northwest  sea;  and,  therefore,  we  have  always  been  known  as  devils." 

"sea  monsters."    Some  people  translate  it  as  "foreign  devils,"  but 

the  original  meaning  of  yang  kwei  tsz  is  "demon"  of  some  kind. 

a  kind  of  bogy  connected  with  the  ocean,  an  "ocean  devil,"  if 

you  like. 

That  is  the  idea  they  had  of  us,  and  in  speaking  of  us  they 
gave  us  the  name  of  "barbarians"  in  their  literature;  and  that 
name  sticks  to  us  yet. 

With  a  situation  like  that,  though  China  stand  still,  though  it 
has  not  budged  for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  it  is  impossible 
that  our  Western  civilization  should  not  sometime  overtake  it. 
Looking  now  at  ourselves,  we  claim  also  to  be  somewhat,  and 
when  we  speak  of  ourselves  in  the  light  of  our  own  apparent  bib- 
lical divine  destiny,  we  claim  no  less  than  the  whole  earth.  In 
the  first  chapter  of  the  Bible,  I  take  it,  we  get  our  idea  of  what 
we  are  to  be.  Man,  when  he  was  originally  created,  was  created 
to  possess  the  earth ;  and  the  command  was  to  be  fruitful,  and 
multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it,  and  have  do- 
minion over  it. 

Such,  my  dear  friends,  as  I  understand  it,  is  one  element  of 
this  aggressive  civilization  of  ours.  And  here  is  another,  the 
great  commission  :  "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  disciple  all  nations." 

And  so  these  two  great  composite,  complex  forces  are  the  rep- 
resentative forces  of  Christendom  ;  and  taken  together  they  mean 
simply  this  :  that  we  are  to  take  the  earth  and  subdue  it.  and  re- 
plenish it,  and  have  dominion  over  it,  and  send  forth  over  it.  un- 

Y/arrants  IT. 

cler  the  great  commission,  the  gospel  of  our  Lord.     And  there   our  expansion. 
is  not  an  island  in  the  seas,  not  a  mountain  in  the  continents,  that 
we  are  not  to  seek  if  there  is  a  soul  there  to  be  saved. 

So  you  see  our  commission  is  the  universal  command,  and 
these  are  universal  forces.  And  I  have  said  to  a  Chinese  more 
than  once  in  discussing  the  present  situation  :  "You  might  as 
well  undertake  to  dam  up  the  waters  of  your  great  river  Yang-tse 
(which  is  bigger  at  the  mouth  than  the  Mississippi)  by  plucking 
the  bulrushes  on  its  banks,  as  to  attempt  to  fetter  the  footsteps 
of  commerce  or  stay  the  progress  of  the  gospel." 


35°  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

ALLE-V-  Referring  now  to  the  situation,  the  Chinese  received  consid- 

erable "startlement"  when  India  was  taken  possession  of  by  En- 
gland. It  brought  the  truth  home  to  her  very  close.  When  the 
Roman  Catholics  in  China  had  friction  among  themselves,  and 
began  to  quarrel  over  certain  terms  in  their  theology  and  in  the 
terminology  of  the  Chinese,  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  Pope 
on  the  one  hand  and  on  the  other  hand  to  Kang-Hi,  who  was 

Fope  and  Em-     Emperor  at  the  time,  a  very  able  man  who  reigned  for  some  sixty 

peror.  years.     The  Pope  decided  against  the  Emperor.     The  question 

was  as  to  what  term  should  be  used  for  "God."  The  missionaries 
preferred  a  certain  term,  but  the  Emperor  was  in  favor  of  another. 
The  Pope  decided  with  the  missionaries.  The  Emperor  resented 
it,  and  wanted  to  know  who  knew  Chinese  better,  the  Pope  or 
himself.  And  when  he  found  that  his  authority  was  being  ques- 
tioned in  his  own  dominions,  and  a  decision  derived  from  the 
Pope  was  to  be  accepted  in  preference  to  his  own,  he  determined 
to  put  a  stop  to  any  such  proceedings.  That  was  the  beginning 
of  it,  and  you  know  they  were  able  to  put  the  Catholic  mission- 
aries out  and  to  keep  them  out  for  nearly  two  hundred  years. 
The  same  thing  happened  in  Japan,  and  so  China  and  Japan  were 
in  close  fellowship  in  this  matter. 

Coming  on  down,  we  find  other  conflicts  arising,  which  did  not 
originate  with  the  missionaries,  but  out  of  the  persistent  inten- 
tion of  the  Chinese  government  to  keep  everybody  else  out  of 

cnmese  and  t}ie  empire — those  who  had  been  put  out  and  those  who  wanted 
to  get  in.  You  know,  many  years  before  they  had  raised  the 
great  wall  of  China,  fifteen  hundred  miles  long.  It  was  a  very  sub- 
stantial structure,  and  it  kept  the  Tartars  out  for  many  years,  but 
finally  it  gave  way  and  China  was  conquered,  first  by  the  Mongo- 
lians and  subsequently  by  the  Manchu  Tartars,  who  now  occupy 
the  throne.  So  that,  therefore,  the  wall  became  obsolete. 

They  thought  they  were  safe  on  the  sea  side  ;  but,  behold,  from 
afar  came  the  great  sea  monsters  in  big  ships.  They  thought  at 
first  that  these  people  were  like  fish,  all  right  in  the  water,  but 
once  on  the  land  their  capture  would  be  easy,  and  so  allowed 
them  to  land.  They  thought  they  did  not  have  any  joints  in 
their  knees,  but  they  soon  found  out  to  the  contrary. 

After  these  first  appearances  of  the  foreigner  from  the  sea,  it  is 
true  that  the  Chinese  did  keep  them  out  of  the  empire  a  long 
while,  and  confined  them  to  one  single  port.  Canton,  for  many 
years.  As  already  said,  the  question  was  not  about  any  one  in 


OUTLOOK    IN    THE    FAR    EAST.  35 1 

the  country  disturbing  the  peace,  but  it  was  their  determination  AI-LEN- 
that  no  one  should  get  into  the  country ;  and  they  tried  to  erect 
what  I  might  call  a  marine  prohibition,  thinking  by  proclama- 
tions and  other  dispositions  toward  the  foreigners  to  keep  them 
at  bay. 

Time  went  on.  When  the  foreigner  first  went  there  he  went 
on  private  business.  He  wanted  to  sell  his  goods  and  buy  others 
in  return ;  but  so  many  embarrassments,  oppositions,  and  diffi- 
culties were  imposed  that  finally  the  English  government  had 
to  interfere.  But  the  Chinese  were  not  prepared  to  recognize  the  ers. 
authority  of  any  one  from  beyond  the  sea  of  whom  they  had 
never  heard  and  did  not  know;  and  so  they  treated  the  envoy 
of  the  King  of  England,  sent  at  the  time,  simply  as  a  supercargo, 
a  man  who  had  charge  of  the  merchandise  on  the  ships,  and  re- 
fused to  recognize  his  authority  or  that  of  the  King  of  England. 
And  so  the  condition  of  things  was  such  that  the  conflict  was  on 
and  could  not  be  avoided.  It  has  been  called  the  "opium  war;" 
but  while  opium  was  incidentally  mixed  up  in  the  matter,  the 
true  question  was  that  of  access  or  non-access  to  China. 

The  conflict  went  on  and  on  until  finally  war  landed  England 
triumphant  in  Nankin,  and  there  the  first  treaty  was  made,  and 
Chinese  ports  opened.  The  beginning  of  foreign  intercourse  with 
China  was  in  a  sense  now  inaugurated  with  the  opening  of  five 
ports.  When  I  first  went  to  China  there  were  only  these  five 
ports  open,  and  around  them  were  limitations — thirty  miles,  or 
as  far  as  one  could  go  out  and  back  in  a  day ;  that  was  the  limit 
of  our  admission  to  the  country. 

Another  matter  is  necessary  in  order  to  explain  the  situation ; 
and  that  is  that  China  at  present,  while  we  call  it  "China,"  em- 
braces eighteen  provinces  which  are  China  proper,  and  the  out- 
lying territories  of  Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Tibet,  and  some  other 
smaller  places  ;  and  all  of  these  together  are  called  the  Chinese 
Empire.  Sometimes  people  misunderstand  or  misinterpret  the 
title  "China."  A  most  notable  illustration  is  recorded  in  the  re- 
cent understanding  of  the  treaty  or  agreement  between  England  what  is  china? 
and  Germany.  They  entered  into  a  treaty  to  the  effect  that 
neither  of  them  would  attempt  to  profit  by  the  present  distresses 
in  China,  and  that  they  would  resist  or  resent  the  attempt  of  any 
other  nation  to  do  so,  and  that  if  an}-  other  nation  so  attempted 
to  profit  itself  they  reserved  to  themselves  what  they  should  do, 
either  jointly  or  severally.  Xo\v  the  question  came  up  for  solu- 


35 2  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

tion  in  Berlin,  and  the  German  Prime  Minister,  Von  Buelow, 
said  he  didn't  consider  Manchuria  a  part  of  China.  That  treaty 
was  made  on  the  basis  of  the  empire,  but  in  his  interpretation 
he  restricts  it  to  China  Proper,  which  is  the  eighteen  provinces. 
Geographically,  Manchuria  is  not  a  part  of  China,  but  politically, 
and  certainly  in  the  sense  in  which  England  made  the  agree- 
ment, it  is  part  of  China. 

So  I  say,  here  we  must  make  a  distinction  between  the  Chinese 
and  the  Tartars.  The  present  government  and  dynasty,  the  Em- 
peror and  Empress  Dowager,  are  all  Tartars ;  and  it  makes  a  big 
difference  in  our  situation.  When  the  Tartars  first  came  in,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  years  ago,  they  got  in  surreptitiously,  in 
a  sense,  and  they  have  no  right  there  at  all,  except  what  they 
have  acquired  by  the  consent  of  the  people  for  these  two  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  years.  Some  men  say  that  the  consent  of  the 
governed  is  sufficient.  Well,  the  Chinese  have  accepted  the  sit- 
uation in  large  part ;  but  there  have  always  been  secret  societies 
in  great  abundance  everywhere  in  the  country,  and  especially 
among  the  Chinese  out  of  China,  as  in  San  Francisco,  Honolulu, 
opposition  to  Singapore,  the  Straits  Settlements,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand. 
In  all  those  places  there  are  Chinese  who  reject  the  dynasty,  and 
would  gladly  see  it  relegated  to  its  original  ancestral  hills  in 
Manchuria.  I  make  this  explanation  here  because  I  am  now  go- 
ing to  refer  to  the  war  between  China  and  Japan.  That  was  per- 
haps one  of  the  most  prodigious  events  in  all  history.  It  was  a 
comparatively  small  thing  from  a  military  point  of  view,  but  it  was 
one  of  those  things  that  determine  the  dominion  or  domination 
of  a  civilization. 

Japan,  according  to  Chinese  ideas,  was  a  renegade.  It  had  left 
oft"  the  old  Asiatic  civilization,  and  gone  after  the  Western  civili- 
zation. It  was,  therefore,  denounced  by  the  Chinese  and  by  the 
Tartar  dynasty.  It  was  true  Prince  Kung  pointed  to  Japan,  and 
said  that  China  ought  to  learn,  for  there  was  a  small  country 
which  had  sent  its  students  to  England  and  America,  and  which 
is  already  cutting  loose  from  the  old  civilization  and  taking  on 
the  new;  and  he  said  that  it  was  no  shame  to  follow  others  and 
keep  pace  with  them  if  not  before  them,  but  it  was  a  great  shame 
for  a  great  nation  to  fall  behind.  He  was  a  great  man,  but  he 
died  before  the  war.  When  the  war  came  on  the  Chinese  saw 
the  fulfillment  of  his  prophecy.  Japan  conquered  China  with 


OUTLOOK   IN    THE    FAR    EAST.  353 

hardly  a  show  of  force.     Then  they  began  to  realize  what  for-   AI-'-EX- 
eign  power  meant  and  what  a  foreign  civilization  meant. 

Now  the  effect  of  this  was  that  the  Chinese — not  the  Tartars, 
bid  tto  Chinese — were  awakened ;  and  you  will  pardon  me  right 
here  for  saying  (many  of  you  know  it  perhaps)  that  I  carefully 
compiled  and  wrote  a  history  of  the  war  between  China  and 
Japan,  because  I  saw  it  was  an  opportune  time  to  awaken  a  great 
people.  Officials  like  Li  Hung  Chang  and  others  contributed 
details  from  their  own  offices,  and  gave  me  carte  blanche  to  use 
them.  The  history  comprised  sixteen  volumes.  They  were  re- 
printed in  Japan  and  in  Korea  and  four  or  five  places  in  China, 

History  of  the 

and  circulated  broadcast.  Iney  promoted  reforms  among  the  war. 
Chinese,  and  exhibited  to  them  such  a  spectacle  of  humiliation 
as  they  had  never  seen  before.  And  so  the  Chinese  demanded 
of  the  Tartar  government  that  all  these  old  and  obsolete  systems 
should  be  done  away  with.  Chinese  government,  you  know,  is 
based  on  a  civil  service,  on  education,  and  their  nobles  are  care- 
fully trained  in  literature  and  classics,  and  examinations  are  held 
all  over  the  country,  with  a  view  of  selecting  the  very  highest 
attainments  and  preserving  them  for  the  government's  use.  The 
Chinese  said  in  their  memorials  :  "What  we  study  is  not  what 
we  use.  We  are  studying  obsolete  books.  Wre  are  learning 
things  that  are  fanciful,  beautiful  as  to  rhetoric,  but  non-conse- 
quential and  not  pertinent."  So  they  demanded  a  change  in  the 
curriculum  of  their  great  institutions.  Some  of  these  men  were 
viceroys,  some  of  them  the  ablest  men  in  China,  and  they  all 
demanded  these  reforms.  Chang  Chi-tung,  the  great  viceroy  and 
the  ablest  literary  man  in  the  empire,  wrote  a  book  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  point  was  "Learn."'  The  Emperor  took  this  up  and 
had  it  reprinted,  and  circulated  it  by  the  million  copies.  Some  of 
these  men  got  access  to  the  Emperor.  lie  received  their  mes- 
sages and  their  suggestions  with  favor.  They  told  him  that  they 
had  been  reading  our  books — the  books  of  the  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Christian  and  General  Knowledge,  etc. — and  those 
books  had  opened  their  eyes,  and  they  would  like  to  see  some 
of  their  suggestions  carried  into  execution  for  the  benefit  of  their 
country.  The  Emperor  approved,  sent  for  some  of  the  books, 
and  read  them  himself.  He  got  our  Bible  and  read  it,  and  it  is 
said  (though  we  have  no  proof  of  the  fact,  for  they  would  keep 
it  from  us  if  possible^  that  he  is  a  reader  of  the  Bible  and  that  he 
prays  to  the  true  God. 

1C 


354 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


lutroluction  of 
books . 


Datliromng  the 

progressive 

Etnpeior. 


Now,  the  Emperor  is  a  Tartar,  but  the  Chinese  accept  him. 
They  say  he  is  more  of  a  Chinaman  than  he  is  of  a  Tartar ;  and 
some  of  these  secret  society  men  told  me,  when  I  was  passing 
through  San  Francisco  and  Honolulu  on  my  previous  visit,  that 
they  were  willing  to  cease  all  opposition  to  the  dynasty  and  aban- 
don their  secret  societies  if  the  Emperor  would  only  take  up  this 
progressive  movement  and  favor  the  development  of  China. 

The  Tartars  are  described  by  the  Chinese  as  men  who  study 
astronomy  from  the  bottom  of  a  well.  They  are  obsolete ;  they 
won't  learn,  and  they  are  trying  to  keep  the  Chinese  from  learn- 
ing. And  so,  while  there  are  points  of  difference  between  the 
Chinese  and  foreigners,  there  is  just  as  much  hostility  between 
the  Chinese  and  the  Tartars.  These  latter  fear  that  the  Chinese 
\vant  to  abolish  the  Tartar  dynasty  and  overthrow  their  power  and 
eradicate  them  altogether,  and  suspect  that  the  foreigners  are 
their  abettors,  largely  because  of  the  influences  of  our  books  in 
promoting  the  reform  movement  among  the  Chinese. 

Further  details  here  might  be  interesting,  so  I  will  add  that  our 
books  are  being  circulated  in  China,  and  are  accepted  by  the  mil- 
lions and  read  everywhere.  One  of  the  results  is  that  the  hostil- 
ity to  foreigners  and  to  missions  has  broken  down  in  one  of  the 
very  worst  provinces,  the  very  hotbed  of  hostility,  and  they  in- 
vited us  into  Hoonan  with  our  books  and  our  schools.  One  of 
the  examiners  in  the  province  told  me  that  at  first  there  was  not 
one  man  in  a  thousand  who  had  read  our  books,  and  they  said 
they  would  not  read  them.  "But,"  he  said,  "you  must  read  them  ; 
the  government  requires  that  you  should  take  a  wider  curric- 
ulum, and  understand  all  these  questions;  and  you  must  read 
them."  And  three  years  later  I  got  a  letter  from  this  same  ex- 
aminer, and  he  said  that  now,  in  the  third  year,  there  was  not  a 
man  who  came  before  him  who  had  not  read  our  books.  That 
accounts  for  the  fact  of  their  raiding  our  bookstores  and  stalls  at 
Shanghai,  and  buying  every  book  they  could  find. 

Now,  then,  here  comes  another  element  into  the  situation,  and 
a  very  serious  one.  The  Tartars,  being  alarmed  for  their  suprem- 
acy, were  willing  to  snatch  at  almost  anything  by  which  they 
could  raise  some  excitement  to  their  advantage.  There  were 
many  things  against  them.  For  instance,  there  was  a  total  eclipse  ; 
and  they  always  interpret  total  eclipses  as  having  some  sinister 
meaning.  They  said,  "The  sun  is  the  Emperor,  and  the  moon  is 
the  Empress.  This,  therefore,  pertains  to  the  Emperor,  and  it  sig- 


OUTLOOK    IN    THE    FAR    EAST.  355 

nifies  that  he  is  to  be  dethroned ;"  and  they  set  to  work  at  once   ALLEN- 
to  make  it  true.     And  why?     Well,  the  Tartars  wanted  to  get 
rid  of  the  Emperor  because  he  had  turned  Chinaman,  and  was 
in  favor  of  reform,  etc. 

Well,  we  go  on  farther,  and  by  and  by  another  alarm  takes 
place.  The  Chinese,  you  know,  reckon  by  the  lunar  months,  and 
every  eight  years,  about,  there  is  an  extra  month.  They  do 
not  add  the  odd  m'onth  to  the  calendar  and  make  it  thirteen,  but 
they  just  stick  it  in  wherever  their  calculations  lodge  it.  Some- 
times it  is  the  third  month,  and  they  double  the  third  month ; 
sometimes  it  is  the  sixth  month,  and  they  double  the  sixth.  This 
last  year  it  happened  to  be  the  eighth  month.  The  Chinese  are 
very  careful  chroniclers,  and  so  they  went  back  in  their  history  to 
see  what  portent  there  was  in  an  eighth  intercalary  month.  They 
found  it  was  sinister  always ;  that  something  evil  always  hap- 
pened in  this  intercalary  eighth  month.  So  they  foresaw  that 
it  portended  distress  and  disorder  and  trouble  to  the  dynasty ; 
and  they  at  once  set  to  work  to  make  that  true  too.  So,  you  see, 
the  Chinese  and  the  Tartars  together  wrought  confusion.  Just 
here  in  this  connection  the  reformers  and  the  Emperor  were  very 
much  in  evidence,  and  great  was  the  alarm  of  the  Tartar  clan. 
The  Empress  Dowager  was  invoked  to  come  back  and  take  the 
authority  again.  She  had  been  Regent  for  two  reigns.  The  Em- 
peror had  accepted  the  advice  of  the  reformers,  and  begun  to 
promulgate  decrees  that  looked  toward  the  regeneration  of  the 
country.  The  Tartar  clan  in  Peking  became  alarmed,  and  they 
therefore  went  to  the  Dowager  and  implored  her  to  return  to  Return  cf  im- 
Peking.  She  was  then  at  her  private  palace  outside  of  the  city.  pre 
She  came  back  and  made  the  Emperor  invite  her,  on  the  plea  of 
ill  health,  to  take  the  power  into  her  own  hands;  and  as  soon  as 
she  got  it  into  her  hands  she  dethroned  him  and  shut  him  up  in 
a  little  island  in  the  palace  grounds.  You  know  those  grounds 
are  very  large,  about  a  mile  on  every  side,  and  in  this  inclosure 
there  are  palaces  and  offices  and  pleasure  grounds  and  lakes  and 
islets  and  the  like.  Well,  they  shut  the  Emperor  up  on  one  of 
these  isolated  places  in  a  palace,  where  he  could  have  no  inter- 
course with  anybody;  and  then  they  turned  upon  the  reformers, 
and  every  one  they  could  get  hold  of  they  at  once  executed  with- 
out trial.  And  one  of  these  men,  on  being  led  out  to  the  place 
of  execution,  said  to  them  :  "You  mav  cut  inv  head  off,  but  for 


35^ 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Conquered 
territory. 


'JRussia. 


inland's 


every  man  that  falls  in  this  cause,  a  thousand  will  rise  to  vindi- 
cate it." 

I  must  now  refer  to  the  foreign  side  of  the  question.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  Japanese  war.  That  war  resulted  in  the  conquest 
by  Japan  of  the  lower  part  of  Manchuria,  or  what  is  called  the 
Liao-tung  peninsula.  That  didn't  suit  Russia  at  all,  so  Russia 
and  France  and  Germany,  by  a  sort  of  secret  treaty,  or,  at  any 
rate,  by  an  agreement,  undertook  to  compel  Japan  to  render  back 
to  China  the  territory  which  had  been  signed  away  by  the  treaty 
for  a  consideration  of  thirty  millions  of  taels. 

Russia  had  now,  so  to  speak,  a  clear  hand,  and  Germany  and 
France  were  in  a  position  to  claim  some  compensation  for  their 
services.  I  have  not  the  time  to  tell  you  all  the  details  of  these 
things,  but  I  have  been  over  there  long  enough  to  get  behind  the 
scenes. 

Russia  fishes  in  muddy  waters ;  you  don't  see  her  hand,  but 
she  gets  the  fish  all  the  same.  She  asked  China,  in  view  of  the 
services  that  she  had  rendered,  to  allow  her  to  run  her  Siberian 
railway  across  Manchuria  in  a  direct  line  to  Vladivostok,  which 
was  the  lowest  port  south  that  Russia  had.  That  was  granted. 
Now  here  were  France  and  Germany.  They  want  something, 
too.  They  are  not  acting  disinterestedly,  you  see.  Germany 
wanted  a  naval  station. 

Now,  just  for  a  moment.  These  details  are  very  exhausting, 
I  know,  but  you  can't  understand  this  question  without  expla- 
nations. Why  is  Germany  out  there  fishing  around  in  China? 
Because  Germany  has  large  world-wide  interests  that  she  is  try- 
ing to  cultivate,  with  a  view  to  an  extended  commerce  and  colo- 
nization ;  but  when  she  is  away  from  Germany  she  is  absolutely 
dependent  upon  England.  England  is  the  onlv  country  that  can 
go  around  the  world  and  ask  nobody's  leave.  You  start  from 
London  and  you  go  down  through  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  you 
run  into  Gibralter  at  the  entrance  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  you  go 
on  a  little  farther,  and  you  stop  at  Malta  ;  a  little  farther,  and 
you  come  to  Cyprus.  All  these  are  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
You  come  out  from  Port  Said  to  Suez,  and  you  enter  the  Red 
Sea,  and  at  its  extremity  is  a  little  island  called  Perim  that  effec- 
tually shuts  up  the  door  of  the  sea.  \  ou  go  on  and  you  come  to 
the  southern  part  of  Arabia,  and  there  is  Aden,  and  that  belongs 
to  England;  and  she  has  a  place  there  where  she  stores  coal  for 
JKT  navy.  Then  you  go  to  India,  to  Bombay,  to  Ceylon,  to  Cai- 


OUTLOOK   IN   THE    FAR   EAST.  357 


ALLEN. 


cutta ;  and  everything  there  belongs  to  England.  You  go  on  to 
Penang,  and  then  you  enter  the  straits  at  Singapore.  It  is  a  large 
place  of  trade.  You  go  from  there  to  Hongkong,  and  from  there 
you  go  to  her  last  possession,  Wei-Hai-Wei,  in  North  China. 
So  that  I  say  that  England  can  go  all  round  the  world  without 
saying  "By  your  leave"  to  anybody.  France?  No.  Germany? 
No.  It  is  everywhere :  "Will  you  please  let  us  have  a  little  coal?" 

And  so  Germany  aspires  to  be  a  great  commercial  power,  but 
how  can  she  be  a  great  commercial  power  without  a  suitable 
naval  base  and  coaling  station?  It  is  impossible,  and  especially 
so  in  turbulent  times.  And  it  is  the  same  way  with  France.  And  Germany. 
so  Germany  went  fishing  up  and  down  the  coast  trying  to  catch 
an  island.  Finally  a  little  incident  happened.  Now  you  would 
not  understand  these  things  by  simply  reading  the  newspaper 
dispatches ;  they  don't  come  that  way.  Germany  found  an  occa- 
sion to  accomplish  her  purpose,  and  it  was  just  to  her  taste.  For- 
merly the  Roman  Catholics  in  all  heathen  countries  ffom  Turkey 
eastward  fell  under  the  hand  of  France,  who  was  the  eldest  son 
of  the  Church,  and  occupied  the  place  of  authority  in  all  these 
countries  over  Catholics  and  the  Catholic  Church,  both  converts 
and  priests.  France  had  claimed  that  power  in  China.  The  Pope 
wanted  a  nuncio,  but  France  objected,  and  he  wasn't  sent.  But 
after  the  war  between  Prussia  and  France  and  the  establishment 
of  the  German  Empire,  Germany  said  :  "We  will  have  no  more 
protectorates  over  German  subjects  by  France."  And  so  in  Protection  of 
China  Germany  announced  that  hereafter  all  the  German  priests  c 
and  religious  people  that  were  in  the  country  were  amenable  to 
the  German  government.  (That  question  is  not  settled  yet. 
France  still  contends  that  she  has  the  right  over  the  Catholics  in 
China ;  and  that  is  one  of  the  questions  that  is  the  cause  of  con- 
flict and  collision.) 

But  to  go  on.  Germany,  after  she  had  been  fishing  for  this 
island  for  some  time,  heard  the  news  that  two  Catholic  mission- 
aries had  been  martvred  or  killed  in  Shantung.  Xow  I  don't 

A  murder. 
mean  to  say  that  every  missionary  who  is  killed  over  there  is  a 

martyr,  by  any  means.  These  missionaries  were  killed  by  a  band 
of  pirates  and  robbers  known  by  the  name  of  the  Big  Knife  So- 
ciety. They  were  originally  the  same  society  that  had  been  op- 
posed to  the  dynasty  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  which  had  been 
supposed  to  have  been  exterminated.  But  here  at  this  time  they 
revive  again,  and  make  a  raid  on  the  Catholic  mission  and  kill 


358 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Reprisal. 


Two  kinds  of 
list*. 


these  priests.  I  mention  these  men  particularly  now,  because 
they  are  the  Boxers,  though  they  were  not  called  Boxers  then, 
but  the  Big  Knife  Society. 

Well,  the  German  Minister  telegraphed  the  news  home,  and 
Emperor  William,  who  is  wonderfully  alert,  instantly  telegraphed 
to  his  admiral :  "Take  five  of  your  biggest  men-of-war  and  go 
to  Kiao  Chow  Bay."  He  had  already  been  fishing  there,  and 
now  he  is  ordered  to  take  possession  of  the  place.  That  was  the 
beginning  of  the  reward  which  Germany  claimed  for  her  services. 
At  once  Russia  saw  that  she  hadn't  done  enough  in  simply  taking 
the  privilege  of  a  railroad  across  Manchuria,  and  so  she  responded 
to  that  move  by  taking  Port  Arthur  and  the  neighboring  bay. 
Ta-lien  Wan.  Now  England  comes  into  the  question,  and  per- 
manently occupies  Wei-Hai-Wei.  The  beautiful  bay  called 
Kwang  Chow  Bay,  in  South  China,  is  next  in  order  occupied 
by  France.  And  so  these  powers  have  fastened  themselves  on 
the  mainland. 

These  are  facts  that  help  to  make  up  the  situation,  which  is  in 
part  Chinese  and  in  part  foreign.  The  Tartars,  therefore,  seeing 
that  the  foreigners  were  aggressive,  and  that  the  Chinese  were 
always  clamoring  for  reform,  which  means  in  some  measure  an 
alliance  with  foreigners,  found  that  they  were  in  a  bad  case ;  and 
so  they  were  anxious  to  use  any  means  possible  to  get  out  of 
this  trouble.  And  the  means  they  adopt  is  this  same  Big  Knife 
Society  that  killed  the  priests  clown  there  in  Shantung. 

Emperor  William,  the  Kaiser  of  Germany,  sent  his  brother 
Henry  out  there  with  the  "mailed  fist."  These  poor  peasants  in 
Shantung  responded  to  the  challenge  of  Germany  by  calling  their 
unarmed  band  the  "Loyal  Fists."  They  were  not  armed  with. 
anything  foreign  at  all.  They  discarded  everything  foreign,  and 
they  killed  every  Chinaman  they  could  get  hold  of  that  had  any- 
thing foreign  on  his  person,  or  had  had  any  relations  with  the 
foreigners.  They  armed  themselves  simply  with  pieces  of  iron 
made  into  a  sort  of  knife  or  sword  in  any  roadside  blacksmith 
shop  ;  and  these  people,  that  were  at  one  time  put  down  as  bandits 
and  robbers,  now  became  loyal  subjects,  and  their  services  were 
accepted  by  the  Empress  Dowager. 

Now  I  want  to  hold  you  to  this  point.  The  Chinese  told  the 
Empress  Dowager  that  these  were  bad  people,  that  they  were 
vicious  bandits  and  robbers,  and  not  to  put  any  trust  in  them. 
The  Empress  was  not  content  to  receive  the  Chinese  view  of  it. 


OUTLOOK    IN   THE    FAR    EAST. 


359 


because  she  was  afraid  of  the  Chinese,  and  so  she  sent  her  hench-  ALI-KN- 
men,  Kang  I  and  Li  Ping-heng,  and  others  down  to  investigate 
the  matter  and  report  to  her.    They  came  back  and  said  to  her :  The  Dowager 
"These  are  glorious  loyal  subjects ;  and,  furthermore,  they  are  and  the  Box- 
invulnerable."    (They  went  through  a  kind  of  hypnotic  influence  e"' 
that  they  said  made  them  invulnerable.)     But  they  hadn't  tested 
it,  you  know ;  they  had  simply  taken  the  words  of  these  people 
for  it.     They  said  that  they  were  invulnerable,  and  that  neither 
bullet  nor  sword  nor  bayonet  could  penetrate  them ;  and  the  Em- 
press believed  it.    And  further  they  said :  "These  men  have  ac- 
cess to  heaven,  and  they  are  promised  thousands  of  heaven's  sol- 
diers to  help  them."     So  the  Empress  Dowager  accepted  these 
statements,  and  all  the  assurances  and  warnings  of  Li  Hung 
Chang  and  Lieu  Kwen  I  and  other  great  viceroys  and  governors 
in  China  Proper  could  not  prevail  upon  or  deter  her.     She  in- 
sisted on  believing  all  these  stories;  and  her  minions  told  her: 
"Now  is  the  time  to  strike." 

They  intended  to  strike  in  the  eighth  month,  but  this  was  only 
June.  Their  eighth  month,  you  know,  would  be  our  September. 
But  now  it  was  only  June,  and  they  didn't  want  to  strike  yet,  but 
these  Boxers,  breaking  out  from  Shantung  and  going  on  to 
Peking,  precipitated  the  struggle,  and  the  dynasty  had  to  bow 
before  it.  So  they  said :  "Well,  we  must  go  to  work  now,  but  we 
have  the  advantage  in  these  invulnerable  people.  They  will  lead 
die  way,  and  our  soldiers  will  follow  behind  and  finish  the  work." 

So  the  orders  went  forth  that  all  foreigners  were  to  be  exter- 
minated. That  order  went  unobstructed  through  Manchuria, 
and  they  actually  moved  troops  over  there  to  attack  the  Russian 
officials  and  to  pull  up  the  railroad  and  the  telegraph  and  destroy 
every  vestige  of  foreign  civilization.  But  when  that  decree  came 
down  south,  Li  Hung  Chang,  who  was  at  the  time  Viceroy  at 
Canton,  denounced  it  at  once  as  a  very  bad  thing.  He  tele- 
graphed to  the  respective  viceroys  at  the  north  and  in  Middle 
China  to  disregard  the  order,  and  not  to  attempt  the  extermina- 
tion of  the  foreigners,  because  the  result  of  such  a  movement 
would  be  to  hang  the  country  higher  than  Hainan. 

So  you  see  that  the  Chinese  understand  these  things.  They  are 
implicated  in  some  cases,  because  some  of  these  leading  Chinese 
were  appointed  by  the  present  government.  Some  of  them  have 
been  heard  to  say:  "I  believe  in  reform,  I  believe  in  this,  that, 
and  the  other."  Sonie  of  the  reformers  want  to  go  too  far,  and 


Courageous 
Viceroys. 


360 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


CMaese  and 
Tartars. 


A  recsncilia- 
tion. 


to  precipitate  a  representative  government,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing.  But  these  men  say :  "If  you  have  your  way,  and  reform 
this  government  by  a  revolution  of  that  kind,  we  can't  go  with 
you.  We  are  now  viceroys  and  governors,  and  have  good  fat 
positions ;  but  if  you  have  your  way,  where  shall  we  be?  We  are 
old,  and  would  be  obsolete,  according  to  your  system  ;  and,  there- 
fore, we  cannot  follow  you."  The  Chinese  leaders  are  enlight- 
ened men,  who  are  guided  largely  by  what  they  have  read  and 
learned  of  foreign  countries  through  the  late  history  of  the  Jap- 
anese war  and  by  what  they  have  read  in  our  books.  I  make  a 
point  of  that,  because  it  is  in  the  situation ;  and  it  is  very  im- 
portant always  to  remember  that  the  Chinese  are  Chinese,  and 
the  Tartars  are  Tartars,  and  that  the  former  are  with  us,  while 
the  latter  are  against  us  and  jealous  of  our  growing  influence 
among  the  Chinese. 

Now  I  intended  to  say  something  about  another  point.  I  have 
been  speaking  about  the  origin  of  this  thing,  but  there  are  so 
many  details  that  I  almost  despair  of  getting  them  all  in.  How- 
ever, I  must  say  a  word  here  before  I  stop  in  regard  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  movement ;  and  on  Tuesday  I  shall  speak  again, 
and  then  I  shall  try  to  give  you  the  real  outlook,  the  real  issue  ; 
but  I  wish,  when  we  get  to  that  position,  you  will  then  under- 
stand that  all  this  that  I  have  been  relating  to  you  is  no  child's 
play,  but  is  the  foundation  of  the  most  glorious  revolution  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

It  appears  that  the  present  movements  may  cause  the  Tartars 
and  the  Chinese  in  some  sense  to  be  reconciled,  because  the  great 
viceroys  are  insisting  already  that  the  terms  of  peace  shall  be 
such  that  the  Tartars  shall  cease  to  dominate  China  after  the 
fashion  in  which  they  have  so  long  done  it.  It  is  one  of  the  inevi- 
table consequences  of  this  movement,  and  the  Chinese  are  strong 
enough  to  insist  upon  it.  The  viceroys  at  the  south  made  an 
agreement  with  our  consuls  at  Shanghai :  "If  you  will  not  invade 
us,  if  you  will  not  land  your  troops  in  our  territory,  we  will  hold 
the  whole  south  of  China  solid  and  peaceable."  And  they  did  it. 
We  know  now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  Chinese  can  never 
say  again  that  they  can't  do  it,  because  they  have  done  it,  under 
most  distressing  circumstances.  These  great  viceroys  have  held 
China  in  the  south  and  in  certain  parts  of  the  north  in  such  peace 
and  restraint  that  they  have  had  hardly  any  trouble  at  all.  So 
we  know  now  what  thcv  can  do. 


OUTLOOK   IN    THE   FAR   EAST.  361 

Another  thing  is  the  restoration  of  the  Emperor.    That  means  ALLEN- 
the  reform  of  that  great  country ;  it  means  the  development  of  its 
resources ;  it  means  that  it  shall  be  put  on  a  proper  footing  of 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations ;  it  means  that  China,  like  Japan, 
shall  aspire  to  admission  into  the  comity  of  nations ;  and  I  tell  The  Emperor 
you,  when  you  once  get  that  ambition  stirred  up,  when  you  Once  should  be  re- 
get  them  to  feel  the  indignity  of  the  extraterritorial  jurisdiction  stored 
exercised  in  their  country  by  all  foreigners,  when  you  once  get 
them  to  see  the  stigma  and  to  feel  the  humiliation  to  which  they 
are  subjected,  they  will  be  like  Japan,  and  will  want  to  throw  it 
all  off.     And  how  will  they  throw  it  off?     Why,  they  will  inau- 
gurate the  grandest  reforms  you  ever  saw ;  reforms  involving 
the  entire  country  and  all  its  relations,  but  of  which  time  fails  me 
to  speak  at  this  time. 

Well,  we  shall  have  something  else,  and  that  will  be  toleration. 
We  have  never  had  tolerance  over  there.  They  are  afraid  of  for- 
eign governments,  and  therefore  they  have  never  done  them- 
selves justice ;  and  all  these  troubles,  I  say,  are  because  the  Chi- 
nese are  cursed  in  their  government.  Thev  don't  know  their 

,     .  .  Toleration. 

treaties,  they  don  t  know  their  own  rights,  they  don  t  exert  them- 
selves to  administer  justice,  and  so  bring  trouble  upon  them- 
selves. But  all  that  will  be  rooted  out,  and  we  shall  see  the 
inauguration  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  China  and  her  inter- 
course with  the  nations  of  the  \Vest.  There  are  some  other 
points  here  that  are  so  great  and  so  important  that  I  hardly  know 
how  to  drop  them,  but  time  fails  me. 

I  want  to  say,  however,  in  conclusion,  that  this  country  has 
done  more  for  China  than  nearly  all  the  other  countries  put  to- 
gether, and  that  the  larger  part  of  the  situation  in  China  is  here 
in  the  United  States  of  America.  And  I  mean  that  just  as  much 
for  the  commercial  people  as  I  do  for  the  Church.  We  ought  all, 
commercial  men  and  representatives  of  the  Church,  to  work  to- 
gether for  the  regeneration  of  that  empire,  for  it  is  your  next- 
door  neighbor,  and  when  you  get  your  great  isthmus  opened, 
and  get  a  highway  from  the  Atlantic  into  the  Pacific,  my  proph- 
ecy is  that  America  on  its  eastern  side,  and  this  great  city  of 
New  Orleans,  will  double  itself;  and  not  only  here,  but  through- 
out Texas  and  throughout  the  inland  States,  you  will  feel  the 
impulse  of  the  situation  in  China. 

Now  I  have  heard  people  talk  about  expansion.  Well,  if  you 
speak  of  the  gospel  I  am  an  expansionist  down  to  the  whole 


362 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Opportunities 
'or  America. 


world,  down  to  every  living  creature;  and  when  you  speak  of 
commerce — well,  my  dear  friends,  what  is  America  for  but  to 
find  its  place  and  its  work  in  this  wide  world  everywhere  ?  The 
other  day,  wrhen  I  was  coming"  across  the  ocean,  I  found  myself 
thousands  of  miles  away  in  sight  of  Uncle  Sam's  territory.  Look 
at  this  map.  Here,  far  out  in  the  middle  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  is 
the  1 80°.  Well,  you  would  'hardly  expect  to  see  Uncle  Sam  out 
there,  but  as  I  came  along  I  did  see  him.  North,  there  are  Alaska 
and  numerous  islands  called  the  Aleutian,  which  run  out  beyond 
the  1 80°,  while  down  here  at  the  south  you  see  that  string  of 
islands  leading  westward  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  also 
extending  beyond  the  180°  meridian.  There  was  a  question  at 
one  time  as  to  whether  Uncle  Sam  owned  them  or  not.  but  Japan 
was  quickly  informed  that  Uncle  Sam  claimed  them,  and  accord- 
ingly he  has  appropriated  them.  And  when  I  passed  there  I  saw 
the  flag  of  our  country  flying  there.  The  first  island  nearest 
Honolulu  is  called  Bird  Island,  and  then  next  Pearl  Island  and 
the  Midway  Islands,  which  are  a  group  that  goes  out  beyond  the 
180°,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  beyond  Honolulu.  And  as  I 
looked  upon  all  these  possessions  of  ours.  I  thought  of  that  old 
hymn  of  Montgomery,  or  somebody  else  (I  know  it  was  an  Eng- 
lishman that  wrote  it,  but  I  appropriate  it) : 

Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul' so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said: 
"This  is  my  own,  my  native  land?" 

Behold,  then,  the  possessions  of  Uncle  Sam.  The  situation  has 
to  be  developed,  and  it  depends  upon  whether  America  is  pre- 
pared to  avail  herself  of  the  opening  situation  in  China.  O  that 
I  could  tell  you  what  it  means  to  you  commercial  men,  who  have 
got  to  develop  this  country  by  helping  to  develop  that !  And.  my 
dear  friends,  you  know  what  your  Church  demands  of  you.  The 
issue  of  the  future  in  China  is  largely  dependent  on  the  attitude 
and  action  of  this  country— in  Church  and  State. 

Supplementary  Address,  April  50. 

Seeing  that  my  time  is  limited  to  a  narrow  twenty  minutes, 
I  have  jotted  clown  a  few  notes  that  I  hope  to  get  within  that 
space  of  time. 

The  meeting  on  Sunday  night  has  put  new  courage  in  mv 
heart  and  new  strength  in  my  bones.  The  opportunity  created 
by  the  crisis  in  China  has  met  with  a  fitting  response,  and  I  now 


OUTLOOK    IN    THE    FAR    EAST.  363 

shall  return  thither  confident  that  the  Church  will  not  fail  in  this   AI-LE-V- 
her  high  duty  toward  China. 

The  persecution  has  massacred  some  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  of  our  Protestant  fellow-workers — sixty  men,  seventy-five 
v,  omen,  and  forty-eight  children ;  and  three  others  have  been 
added  since  my  arrival  here.  It  has  destroyed  much  property, 
but  we  cherish  no  desire  to  revenge  ourselves,  save  by  love  ex- 
hibited in  more  strenuous  efforts  for  their  salvation.  And  that 
you  may  the  more  thoroughly  join  us  in  the  work,  there  are  a 
few  points  of  supreme  importance  to  which  I  desire  to  call  at- 
tention in  this  brief  survey  of  the  work. 

First,  the  Chinese  people  are  with  us  politically  as  well  as 
socially,  and  are  in  favor  of  reform  and  liberal  government.  This 
they  have  demonstrated  by  a  wonderful  unanimity  of  sentiment 
and  action.  Now,  mark  it,  friends,  I  want  to  lay  this  foundation 
deep  in  your  hearts :  China  is  a  different  country  from  that  of 
the  Tartars  ;  we  are  dealing  with  the  Chinese  people,  who  have 
been  long  dominated  by  a  despotic  Tartar  dynasty,  and  I  ref0rm. 
wish  you  to  note  the  gradual  emergence,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
Chinese  from  beneath  this  long-dominant  yoke,  and  their  eman- 
cipation into  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  a  great  nation.  First, 
they  resisted  the  attempts  to  dethrone  the  Emperor ;  secondly, 
they  resisted  the  idea  of  naming  a  successor.  The  fact  of  naming 
a  successor,  according  to  Chinese  custom,  would  indicate  that  the 
Emperor  was  dead.  They  resisted,  therefore,  the  inference  that 
the  Emperor  had  been  dethroned  and  was  dead,  and  a  successor 
had  to  be  appointed.  Then  they  resisted  the  idea  of  declaring 
Putsing  Emperor.  He  is  the  son  of  Prince  Tuan,  who,  with  the 
Empress  Dowager,  has  raised  this  great  trouble,  because  he 
\vanted  to  put  his  son  in  the  place  of  the  present  Emperor.  The 
Chinese  resisted  that,  and  insisted  that  if  he  was  named  as  a  suc- 
cessor it  should  not  be  as  the  successor  of  the  previous  Emperor, 
but  as  the  successor  of  the  present  Emperor,  whom  they  wish 
to  dethrone.  It  was  this  attitude  of  the  Chinese,  together  with 
the  strong  hand  of  the  viceroys  and  governments  in  the  south 
and  middle  of  China,  that  preserved  the  country  from  a  destruc- 
tive war,  and  confined  the  disturbances  almost  exclusively  to  the 
north  and  those  places  where  the  Tartar  influence  was  predomi- 
nant. There  was  war  with  the  Tartars,  but  not  with  the  Chinese. 
There  was  a  riot,  and  the  allies  said.  ''\Ye  come  to  help  you  put  it 
down ;"  but,  unfortunately,  the  riot  was  headed  by  the  Empress 


364  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

ALLEN.  Dowager  herself.    And  she  fled  away,  and  they  haven't  got  her 

yet. 

The  Chinese,  I  repeat,  are  in  sympathy  with  reform  and  prog- 
ress ;  and  there  is  but  one  thing  that  could  now  stir  them  to  polit- 
ical hostility — to  wit,  the  attempt  to  partition  their  country.  This 

Opposed  to  par- 

tition.  was  exhibited  as  1  was  leaving  China,  when  a  public  meeting  was 

called  to  protest  against  the  government's  signing  a  treaty  with 
Russia,  involving  the  disintegration  of  the  empire.  The  Chinese 
never  have  been  conquered.  They  have  been  overrun  by  the  mil- 
itary power  of  the  Mongols  and  the  Manchus ;  but  Chinese  civ- 
ilization has  conquered  the  conquerors,  even  as  Grecian  civiliza- 
tian,  art,  and  literature  conquered  Rome;  and  in  the  present  in- 
stance China  would  seem  to  be  recovering  her  political  influence 
from  the  Tartars,  who  are  a  vanishing  dynasty  from  this  time 
henceforth.  Mark  it  well.  Liu  Kwen  I,  who  is  the  great  viceroy 
at  Nankin,  advises  that  the  distinction  of  Tartar  and  Chinese  be 
henceforth  abolished.  Now  the  Tartars  are  about  as  twelve  mil- 
lions to  four  hundred  millions ;  and  if,  according  to  this  request, 
you  abolish  the  distinction  between  Tartar  and  Chinese,  and  place 
the  Tartar  on  the  same  level  as  regards  education  and  as  regards 
industry,  and  make  those  people  (who  have  been  simply  parasites 
living  upon  China)  earn  their  living,  you  will  see  the  Chinese 
dominant  throughout. 

We  are  now  face  to  face  with  the  great  Chinese  nation ;  and, 
as  I  said  before,  the  conflict  is  clearly  denned  between  Confucius 
and  Christ  for  the  domination  of  the  East  in  religion  and  civiliza- 

Favoratie  tion.  For  your  encouragement  I  don't  hesitate  to  declare,  in 
advance  of  the  inevitable  result,  that  the  Chinese  already  see  it 
from  afar.  First,  the  leading  viceroy,  Chang  Chi-tung,  proclaims 
Buddhism  and  Taoism  hopelessly  decadent.  Secondly,  he  has 
recommended  the  adoption  and  propagation  of  foreign  education  ; 
and  in  this  connection  I  will  say  that  he  invited  me  to  come  to 
his  viceroyalty  and  help  him  to  establish  a  great  press  and  trans- 
late and  publish  the  literature  which  he  would  disseminate  every- 
where. He  is  the  man  that  published  a  great  book,  ''Learn:  The 
Only  Hope  of  China,''  on  reform  ;  and  the  Emperor  scattered  a 
million  copies.  Thirdly,  this  great  viceroy  at  Nankin  advises  the 
establishment  of  schools  and  colleges  from  the  capital  through- 
out the  provinces.  He  also  recommends  that  the  young  nobles 
and  high-caste  young  men  be  sent  abroad  to  travel  and  study  in 
foreign  lands.  There  has  always  been  a  prohibition  against  their 


OUTLOOK    IN    THE    FAR    EAST.  365 

leaving  the  country,  but  now  it  is  recommended.  For  instance,  ALLEN- 
the  other  day  in  Honolulu  (I  mention  a  recent  experience) — in 
Honolulu  and  San  Francisco,  as  I  came  along  I  was  called  on  to 
address  the  Chinese.  They  had  never  seen  me,  and  they  had 
never  heard  of  me  except  through  my  books  and  periodicals ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  found  that  I  was  there  they  sent  a  deputation  to 
invite  me  to  address  them.  I  did  so,  and  they  insisted  that  I  tell 
them  about  their  country.  Invitations  had  been  sent  out  to  all 
the  leading  Chinese,  and  the  pastors  of  the  Churches,  the  mer- 
chants, and  the  leading  men  of  the  guilds  came.  They  filled  a 
large  hall,  and  I  never  met  a  more  enthusiastic  greeting  than 
from  these  strange  Chinese,  whom  I  had  never  seen  before. 

My  address  was  on  the  situation  and  their  relation  to  it ;  and 
after  making  clear  the  status  of  affairs  I  recommended  in  my 
conclusion  that  the  Chinese  establish  a  great  college  in  San  Fran- 
cisco for  their  sons,  and  to  be  sure  not  to  forget  the  daughters. 
I  told  them  that  to  educate  a  son  was  well,  but  to  educate  a 
daughter  was  better;  that  the  son  was  but  an  individual,  while 
the  daughter  was  the  foundation  of  the  family  and  of  society. 
These  suggestions  were  received  with  applause,  and  when  I  had 
concluded  more  than  a  hundred  leading  Chinese  came  forward, 
shook  me  by  the  hand,  thanked  me  for  the  suggestion,  and  said 
they  would  carry  it  out.  And  I  believe  it  will  be  clone. 

Thus  the  Chinese  in  China  and  the  Chinese  out  of  China  are 
all  moving  in  one  direction  and  with  one  impulse  in  favor  of 
progress  and  reform,  a  liberal  government,  and  political  and  reli- 
gious liberty.  That  is  the  situation  we  are  called  on  to  survey. 

Again  (mark  this,  please,  for  it  shows  that  we  are  getting  the 
thing  narrowed  clown  to  a  point),  the  Chinese  having  accepted 
our  systems  of  learning,  with  an  enlarged  and  liberalized  civil 
service  and  curriculum,  is  tantamount  to  relegating  the  old  clas- 
sics to  the  category  of  our  Greek  and  Roman  classics  in  our  col-  The  new  ed- 
leges  and  universities,  studying  them  only  for  the  culture  of  their  ucatlim- 
literary  style  and  finish  ;  and  they  are  accepting  instead  our  varied 
learning,  with  its  knowledge  and  power  to  develop  and  enrich 
the  nation :  and  with  this  change  Confucianism  will  be  de- 
throned. The  arrested  progress  of  China  yields  to  the  new  learn- 
ing, and  the  gospel  will  have  a  free  course  throughout  the  em- 
pire. 

You  can  understand  why  I  have  always  been  persistent  to  have 
our  schools  and  colleges  put  upon  a  permanent  basis,  and  YOU 


366 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Openings  for 
our  schools. 


A  new  book. 


Literature 


can  understand  how  great  was  the  uplift  given  me  on  Sunday 
night.  I  was  among  the  first  to  move  in  the  matter  of  educa- 
tional and  literary  work.  The  long-persistent  inertia  met  in  the 
field  and  the  seeming  indifference  at  home  have  left  their  marks 
on  this  great  work;  but,  thank  God!  the  day  of  deliverance  is  at 
hand,  and  in  Sooehow  University  we  hope  to  have  more  than  a 
mere  school  for  the  education  of  the  pupils  who  come  within  its 
\valls.  We  hope  to  have  a  model,  an  example  of  schools,  like 
McTyeire  School  for  girls  in  Shanghai.  That  is  a  model  of  its 
kind,  and  I  believe  is  to  be  the  progenitor  of  schools  as  well  as 
the  mother  of  pupils. 

And  right  here  a  word  for  the  Laura  Haygood  Memorial 
School,  also  to  be  located  in  Sooehow.  I  believe  in  the  educa- 
tion of  women.  Just  now  I  am  writing  the  best  book  I  have  ever 
given  to  China.  Its  title  is  "Woman  in  All  Lands,  Ancient  and 
Modern,"  and  it  will  be  profusely  illustrated.  The  two  proposi- 
tions that  it  discusses  are  as  follows :  First,  that  the  status,  treat- 
ment, and  condition  of  women,  in  any  land,  is  the  best  single  test 
of  the  character  and  status  of  its  people ;  secondly,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  regenerate  any  people  without  first  emancipating  and 
redeeming  their  womanhood.  These  propositions  are  eminently 
true  of  China ;  and  believing,  as  I  earnestly  do,  that  there  is  no 
hope  for  that  country  unless  her  women  are  lifted  up  and  re- 
deemed pari  passu  with  the  men,  I  make  here  the  strongest  ap- 
peal of  which  I  am  capable.  These  two  institutions  must  go 
together,  and  I  cannot  but  regret  that  on  Sunday  night  there  were 
not  opened  two  columns  of  figures,  one  for  the  Sooehow  Univer- 
sity and  the  other  for  the  woman's  school,  the  Haygood  Memo- 
rial. However,  there  is  time  yet,  and  the  inspiration  of  this 
great  Conference  carried  home  will  not  fail  to  bring  to  pass  a 
"'consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished." 

Again,  viewing  China  as  a  vast  literary  field,  with  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  books  and  millions  of  readers,  no  argument 
is  needed  to  set  forth  the  urgency  and  importance  of  our  pro- 
jected press  and  publishing  house.  The  government  of  China  in 
every  department  is  calling  for  men.  These  the  schools  must 
provide.  The  schools  must  have  both  teachers  and  books,  and 
the  reading  public  must  have  literature.  All  these  the  mission- 
aries are  expected  to  supply  in  large  part,  for  China  is  the  ward 
of  Christendom  and  the  pupil  of  the  Church,  taught  by  her  rep- 
resentatives,  the  missionaries. 


OUTLOOK    IN    THE    FAR    EAST. 


367 


classes. 


For  years  I  have  stood  almost  appalled  and  helpless  in  the 
face  of  these  stupendous  problems,  but  the  solution  now  seems 
easy.  China  is  made  willing,  the  Church  is  waking  up,  and  faith 
lays  hold  afresh  on  the  strong  arm  of  hope.  But  one  thing  more 
is  needed,  and  now  is  the  time  to  emphasize  it.  We  need  more 
men  and  more  women,  with  that  culture  and  grasp  so  essential 
to  positions  like  these  before  us  ;  men  and  women  who  can  com- 
prehend (that  is,  understand  and  compass)  the  true  character  and 
wants  of  man  ;  men  and  Women,  at  home  and  abroad,  who  will 
not  confound  two  things  so  dissimilar  as  domestic  and  foreign 
missions.  There  has  been  confusion  here,  so  mark  the  differ- 
ence :  The  former,  the  domestic  mission,  contemplates  the  desti- 
tute of  a  people  to  be  provided  for  by  the  native  Church,  and  the 
other  contemplates  a  nation,  with  all  its  people,  high  and  low, 
rich  and  poor,  to  be  provided  for  by  the  sending  Church,  the 
Church  that  dispenses  the  gospel. 

And  just  here  it  may  be  as  well  to  say  that,  if  the  Church  is 
ever  to  have  self-support,  self-propagation,  and  self-government, 
it  is  time  we  should  begin  to  provide  something  for  that  class  of 
people  from  which  such  things  come  in  our  own  Christian  coun- 
tries —  that  is,  the  intelligent  and  well-to-do.  They  need  the  help 
to  be  had  from  our  colleges  and  schools,  and  the  printing  press 
and  publishing  house.  These  institutions,  properly  established 
and  manned  with  experts  in  their  respective  lines,  will  be  more 
widely  useful  and  successful  than  any  other  ordinary  missionary 
agencv.  Considering  that  we  cannot  or  will  not  greatly  multiply  The  'vay  to 

.  -      self-support. 

the  number  of  our  agents,  let  us  have  these  amply  and  strongly 
sustained  and  equipped.  This  institution,  the  press  and  pub- 
lishing house,  has  at  its  back  as  a  constituency,  as  friends  and 
helpers,  the  whole  missionary  body  in  China  of  all  denominations. 
It  is  not  limited  to  our  few  men,  but  will  be  amply  sustained  by 
the  ready  help  of  thousands  of  missionaries  in  the  field.  Hence 
its  influence  and  power  cannot  fail  to  be  felt  throughout  the  king- 
<loms  of  the  far  East. 

Finally,  everything  is  in  our  favor,  whether  in  China  or  at 
home.  In  China  the  persecution  has  sown  the  seed  of  the 
Church.  The  triumphant  death  of  forty  thousand  native  Chris- 
tians has  not  only  vindicated  the  Church  in  the  eyes  of  the  un- 
believing and  incredulous,  but  it  has  given  confidence,  both"  in 
China  and  at  home,  in  the  results  of  missions. 

And  now,  that  nothing  lie  left  unprovided  for.  let  the  merchants 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

and  the  business  men,  and  professional  men  generally,  unite  with 
us  heartily  and  meet  the  suggestions  of  the  great  viceroy,  who 
recommended  the  young  nobles  and  other  high-caste  young 
men  to  travel  and  study.  Our  merchants,  and  particularly  those 
-commerce  whose  business  connects  them  with  China,  should  join  in  asking 
these  young  men  to  visit  our  country  and  see  for  themselves  our 
resources  and  conditions ;  and  thus,  while  the  missionary  and 
the  Church  look  out  for  the  intellectual  and  religious  welfare  of 
the  people,  the  merchants  can  aid  us  by  giving  them  other  ideas, 
useful  along  other  lines,  industrial  and  commercial. 


THE  FORWARD  MOVEMENT  IN  OUR  CHINA 
MISSION. 

REV.  C.  F.  REID,  D.D. 

THE  necessity  for  a  forward  movement  in  our  China  Mission  is 
a  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  progress  in  developing  our  work 
which,  under  divine  leadership,  we  have  already  attained.  It  is 
not  claimed  that  the  Southern  Methodist  Mission  in  China  has  a 
monopoly  of  the  providence  of  God.  Nevertheless,  it  must  ap- 
pear to  any  careful  student  of  our  Asiatic  missions  that  not  onlv 
in  China,  but  in  Japan  and  Korea  as  well,  he  has  in  a  very  special 
manner  verified  to  us  his  promise:  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway." 
As  surely  as  with  God's  chosen  of  old,  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  by 
rlav  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  hath  gone  before  us,  and  he 

Divine  leader-  .'  .    ,         111         ,  1          -11 

ship.  hath  taken    not  away  the  pillar  ot  the  cloud  by  day,  nor  the  pillar 

of  fire  by  night,  i'rom  before  the  people."  In  China,  the  evidence 
of  the  divine  leadership  will  appear  manifest  by  a  careful  consid- 
eration of  the  following  four  features  of  the  work:  (i)  The  field 
selected;  (2)  the  men  selected  for  the  field:  (3)  the  character  of 
the  work  enterprised;  (4)  the  degree  of  success  that  has  attended 
the  use  of  these  means. 

i.  When  Dr.  Charles  Taylor  arrived  at  Shanghai,  in  1848,  who 
would  have  dreamed  that  in  less  than  half  a  century  the  few  hasti- 
ly erected  business  hongs  and  residences  scattered  among  the 
grave  mounds  and  stagnant  pools  just  outside  the  walls  of  one 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IN    CHINA.  369 

of  the  most  insignificant  and  filthy  cities  along  the  coast  would   RKID 

grow  into  the  chief  trade  entrepot  of  a  mighty  empire  and  the 

sixth  in  importance  of  all  the  great  commercial  cities  of  the  world?  The  fieid  $e- 

Human  wisdom  would  have  shunned  this  spot,  and  fortified  itself  lected- 

in  so  doing  by  a  dozen  weighty  arguments.     In  the  first  place,  it 

was  the  most  unattractive  section  of  country  along  the  coast.     As 

far  as  the  eye  could  reach  in  every  direction  there  was  naught  but 

a  dreary  stretch  of  mud  and  paddy  field — only  a  few  feet  above 

tide  water  and  unbroken  by  anything  higher  than  a  grave  mound 

or  an  occasional  tree  ;  a  climate  hot,  humid,  and  malarious  ;  water 

that  offended  the  eye  and  nose  before  it  reached  the  palate ;  and 

people  leprous  to  a  degree,  scourged  in  winter  by  smallpox  and 

in  summer  by  cholera. 

Moreover,  at  a  very  early  date  Shanghai  acquired  a  most  un- 
enviable reputation  for  immorality.     It  became  known  as  a  sort 
of  Sodom  of  the  Orient.     Here  the  beach  comber,  the  sandal   Shanghai's 
wooder,  the  opium  smuggler,  and  all  sorts  of  social  outcasts  from   early  repnta- 
foreign  lands  seemed  to  find  congenial  environments  and  drive  a 
thriving  trade.     A  disreputable  and  unscrupulous  native  element 
poured  in  from  Canton  and  Ningpo.     This  element  soon  made 
the  dens  of  vice  on  the  Yang-king-pang  and  in  "Bamboo  town"  a 
festermg  disgrace  to  that  section  of  the  city  governed  by  the  For- 
eign Municipal  Council. 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  with  such  surroundings  mis- 
sionary effort  should  be  comparatively  fruitless,  and  that  Shang- 
hai soon  came  to  be  considered  as  one  of  the  hardest  and  most 
unpromising  fields  in  the  empire.  Yet,  with  all  these  unpropi- 
tious  beginnings,  Shanghai  is  to-day  known  as  the  model  settle- 
ment of  the  East,  the  best-drained,  best-watered,  and  best-lighted 
city  in  Asia.  It  is  adorned  with  magnificent  cathedrals,  fine  Aa  it  is  to- 
churches  and  schools.  Great  banking  houses  and  business  hongs  ay' 
ornament  its  bund.  Miles  of  its  water  ways  are  lined  with  silk 
filatures  and  cotton  factories,  where  multiplied  thousands  of 
wheels  and  spindles  whirl  day  and  night.  Elegant  public  build- 
ings, well-kept  parks,  broad  macadamized  streets  thronged  with 
splendid  equipages,  and  delightful  suburban  drives,  along  which 
her  merchant  princes  have  reared  their  homes,  are  among  the 
attractive  features  of  the  city ;  while  an  evening  spin  along  the 
bund  gives  opportunity  to  compare  the  llags  of  all  nations  as  they 
fly  from  the  shipping  that  ever  crowds  the  river.  About  ten 


370 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


thousand  foreigners  and  a  million  natives  throng  the  city  and 
wide-extending  suburbs. 

In  easy  reach  of  Hongkong,  the  Philippines,  Formosa,  Japan,. 
Korea,  Manchuria,  and  North  China,  she  sends  her  coastwise 
steamers  to  all  these  parts  in  search  of  gain ;  and  being  the  gate- 
way of  the  mighty  Yang-tse,  she  draws  into  her  bosom  the  lion's 
share  of  the  profits  accruing  from  traffic  with  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  people  who  throng  this  most  populous  val- 
ley of  the  world. 

Shanghai  is  not  only  China's  chief  distributer  of  merchandise, 
but  it  has  also  become  its  chief  center  of  missionary  activity. 
Here  the  large  majority  of  missionaries  to  the  Chinese  first  touch 
the  soil  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  and  to  this  port  they  come  from 
distant  interior  stations  for  supplies.  Here  are  the  headquarters 
of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  the  chief  agencies  of  the  great  Bible 
Societies,  the  headquarters  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Christian  and  General  Knowledge,  and  the  largest  mission  press 
in  China,  if  not  in  the  world. 

Contrary  to  early  expectation,  it  has  proved  a  not  unfruitful 
field  for  evangelistic  effort.  The  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Church 
Missionary  Society,  American  Episcopalians,  and  the  Disciples, 
all  have  large  and  growing  memberships.  In  1896  our  own  mem- 
bership at  Central  Church  numbered  more  than  four  hundred 
communicants,  besides  a  large  class  of  probationers  and  two 
thriving  Sunday  schools.  The  three  large  mission  hospitals  are 
crowded,  and  several  of  our  schools  find  their  capacity  much  too 
small  to  accommodate  all  applicants. 

Soochow,  our  second  station,  is  in  its  way  no  less  strategic  than 
Shanghai.  Founded  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  it  was, 
under  the  old  feudal  system,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  \Yoo. 
Under  the  more  recent  division  of  the  empire  it  is  the  capital  of 
the  Province  of  Kiang-su.  Situated  nearly  in  the  center  of  the 
great  rice  and  silk-producing  regions  of  the  Kiang-su  and  Che- 
kiang  Provinces,  it  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Chinese. 

The  large  number  of  scholars,  literary  chancellors,  viceroys, 
and  other  high  officials  that  have  gone  forth  from  its  walls  have 
won  it  first  rank  as  a  great  literary  center,  and  the  comparative- 
ly easy  conditions  of  life  have  made  the  popular  aphorism,  "Be- 
low are  Hangchow  and  Soochow,  and  above  is  heaven,"  of  wide- 
ly extended  use. 

IN  facilities  as  an  evangelistic  center  are  unsurpassed.  Stand- 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IX    CHINA.  371 

ing  on  the  great  pagoda  at  the  North  Gate,  one  may  view  in  one 
sweep  of  the  eye  the  walled  cities  of  Kwin-san,  Woo-sih,  and 
Chang-suh  and  look  upon  the  homes  of  five  million  people. 
Could  the  vision  be  extended  by  a  two  days'  comfortable  ride  in  An 
a  house  boat,  it  would  embrace  the  additional  cities  of  Yi-shing, 
Li-yang,  Changchow,  Hoochow,  Kading,  Sung-kiang,  Tsing-pu,  ter. 
Ta-tsang,  Kashing,  Shanghai,  Bao-san,  Kang-ying,  Tan-yang, 
and  a  multitude  of  large  towns  and  villages.  More  than  twenty 
million  people  find  their  homes  within  this  region  so  easily  ac- 
cessible from  Soochow.  They  are  for  the  most  part  intelligent, 
peace-loving,  and  friendly,  and  possess  natural  characteristics 
which,  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel,  will  make  them  a  loyal, 
efficient  Christian  people.  Already  this  section  has  furnished 
some  of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted  workers  that  adorn  the  na- 
tive ministry  of  the  Chinese  Church. 

That  our  little  mission  has  been  sent  to  occupy  so  important  a 
place  in  this  unparalleled  field,  I  am  glad  to  believe,  is  a  special 
token  of  the  favor  of  God. 

2.  Our  pioneer  missionary,  Dr.  Charles  Taylor,  was  a  man  sin- 
gularly adapted  to  his  work,  loving  and  lovable,  a  ripe  scholar, and 
a  courteous  Christian  gentleman.     He  easily  fitted  himself  alike  Tha  men  ae- 
to  the  lowly  peasant  or  the  critical  member  of  the  literati.  He  was  l 
soon  joined  by  such  men  as  Dr.  W.  G.  E.  Cunnyngham  and  Dr. 
D.  C.  Kelley,  names  known  and  loved  throughout  the  bounds  of 
Southern  Methodism. 

The  urgent  need  in  these  initial  days  was  for  large-hearted, 
sympathetic,  earnest  preachers  of  the  gospel ;  and  if  the  entire 
Church  had  been  hunted  over,  no  better  man  could  have  been 
found  to  meet  this  need  than  Dr.  J.  W.  Lambuth.     A  more  single-  j.  w.  Lam- 
hearted,  indefatigable  servant  of  God  never  set  foot  on  Chinese   buth'  D-D- 
soil.     He  had  but  one  thought,  one  purpose,  and  that  was  to 
bring  the  Chinese  to  Christ.     His  transparent  character  was  eas- 
ily understood  by  the  objects  of  his  devotion,  and  they  repaid  his 
love  in  the  same  coin. 

Ever  extending  the  sphere  of  his  labor,  his  boat  became  a  fa- 
miliar object  throughout  a  radius  of  fifty  miles  around  Shanghai. 
On  the  streets,  in  the  temples,  or  in  the  little  rented  chapels  of 
Tsing-pu.  Xantziang.  Kading,  and  many  other  places,  he  could  be 
seen,  the  center  of  a  wondering  crowd,  as  with  earnest  and  often 
tear-stained  face  he  pleaded  with  them  to  receive  Christ  and  his 


372 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


salvation.     His  life  was  as  powerful  as  his  appeals.     He  was  "a 
living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men." 

When,  after  thirty-two  years  of  faithful  service  in  China,  he  was 
transferred  to  pioneer  our  infant  w-ork  in  Japan,  it  was  my  fortune 
to  follow  him  in  Shanghai  as  presiding  elder  of  the  district  and 
pastor  of  the  Shanghai  Station.  I  entered  upon  my  work  with 
fear  and  trembling,  and  for  a  year  was  constantly  oppressed  with 
the  fear  that  the  Church  would  suffer  much  by  the  change.  It 
doubtless  did;  but  one  day,  after  a  specially  happy  effort,  an  old 
and  influential  member  of  the  congregation  came  to  me  with 
tears  streaming  down  her  face,  and  said :  "Ah,  to-day  you  re- 
minded us  of  Lau  Lan  Sie-Sang"  (the  old  teacher  Lambuth). 
After  that  I  felt  much  more  secure  in  my  position. 

Another  early  and  urgent  need  of  our  Mission — and,  in  fact,  of 
the  entire  missionary  movement  in  China — was  men  capable  of 
producing  an  effective  and  acceptable  literature.  China  is  a  na- 
tion of  students,  eager  to  read,  but  fastidious  in  the  extreme.  He 
who  seeks  to  catch  and  hold  the  attention  of  China's  literati  must 
conform  to  their  high  standard  of  style  and  clothe  his  arguments 
with  the  skill  of  a  past  master  in  literature.  Xot  only  was  the 
man  found,  but  without  premeditated  purpose  of  his  own  he  was 
put  through  the  training  for  his  delicate  and  important  work. 
Dr.  Young  J.  Allen  landed  in  China  in  1859.  Soon  cut  off  from 
home  supplies,  he  was  forced  into  the  employ  of  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment :  and.  while  maintaining  himself  and  family  by  teaching 
and  translating  in  the  Kiang-Xan  Arsenal,  he  was  constantly 
thrown  in  contact  with  that  bright  and  more  advanced  class  of 
Chinese  officials  which  had  been  put  forward  to  manage  the  dif- 
ficult problem  of  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  Finding  in 
him  a  man  of  wide  and  varied  information,  they  sought  his  com- 
pany and  gave  him  their  confidence.  It  will  readily  be  seen  how 
easy  it  was  for  him,  under  these  conditions,  to  become  familiar 
vith  the  inner  workings  of  the  government,  and  come  to  a  clear- 
er understanding  of  its  supreme  need  of  that  information  without 
which  China  must  flounder  at  the  mcrcv  of  a  greedy  world. 

Meditating  on  these  things,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  a  period- 
ical that  should  give  to  the  Chinese  in  their  own  language  the 
salient  facts  of  \Yestern  religion,  philosophy,  and  politics,  and 
such  general  information  as  should  in  a  measure  prepare  them  for 
the  constantly  increasing  contact  with  Western  civilization.  Out 
of  this  seed  thought  has  yrown  the  Wan-Kwok-Kong-Pao  (U'orld'j 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IN    CHINA. 


373 


Other  publica- 
tions. 


Magazine).  Becoming  immediately  popular,  its  circulation  now 
extends  over  the  Straits  Settlements,  Japan,  Korea,  and  the 
western  coast  of  America,  and  its  influence  would  be  hard  to  es- 
timate. 

This  enterprise  was  soon  followed  by  his  "China  and  Her 
Neighbors,"  a  publication  that  has  gone  through  many  editions 
and  is  still  widely  read.  Many  other  volumes  have  come  from 
his  ready  pen,  the  crowning  work  of  all  probably  being  his  "His- 
tory of  the  Chino-Japanese  War,"  for  which  he  has  received  the 
grateful  acknowledgments  of  three  emperors. 

On  all  his  numerous  publications  he  has  put  the  broad  mark  of 
allegiance  to  Christ,  and  through  them  ever  proclaims  the  gospel 
as  the  only  true  regenerating  power  and  safe  foundation  upon 
which  private,  social,  or  national  life  can  be  built.  Who  can 
measure  the  influence  of  his  work?  Something  of  an  idea  may 
be  gathered  from  the  words  of  Kang-Yu-Wei,  chief  adviser  of  the 
Emperor  in  the  reforms  of  1898,  and  the  leading  Chinese  patriot. 
While  a  refugee  from  the  Empress  Dowager,  in  Hongkong,  he- 
was  interviewed  by  the  editor  of  the  China  Mail.  Among  other 
things,  he  said  :  "I  owe  conversion  to  reform,  and  my  knowledge 
of  reform  to  two  missionaries — Rev.  Timothy  Richards,  Agent 
of  the  English  Baptist  Society,  and  Dr.  Young  J.  Allen,  a  mission- 
ary of  the  Southern  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America." 

Such  testimony  from  such  a  source  should  cause  the  heart  of 
every  Southern  Methodist  to  thrill  with  gratitude  to  Him  who 
called  from  among  us,  and  has  preserved  in  the  field  for  more 
than  forty  years,  a  life  of  such  singular  power. 

Our  educational  work  was  no  less  providentially  provided  for. 
After  twenty-five  years  of  heroic  effort  against  stupendous  odds., 
our  little  band  of  workers  had  begun  to  enlarge  their  borders. 
The  pressing  demand  for  trained  native  preachers  and  other  as-   Educational 
sistants  was  more  and  more  making-  itself  felt.     Moreover,  the   Work- 
children  of  our  converts  were  growing  up  around  us.  and  we  were 
face  to  face  with  the  imperative  necessity  of  providing  for  them 
the  means  of  a  Christian  education.     Just  in  the  nick  of  time  and 
opportunity  the  right  man  for  this  important  department  of  our 
work  appeared. 

In  the  fall  of  1875  Dr.  A.  P.  Parker,  now  President  of  the  An- 
glo-Chinese College,  joined  our  China  Mission.     He  was  at  once   Dr  A   P 
set  apart  for  educational  work,  and  the  newly  opened  station  of  Parker. 
Soochow  was  chosen  as  the  field  of  his  labors.     Dr.  J.  W.  Lam- 


374 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Text-books. 


Boffingtoa 
Institute. 


Apparatus. 


buth  had  already  gathered  the  nucleus  of  a  school  around  him  at 
Shanghai.  These  boys,  mostly  the  sons  of  our  converts,  were 
now  removed  to  Soochow  and  put  in  charge  of  the  new  mission- 
ary. Modest  and  unassuming,  but  possessed  of  more  than  com- 
mon ability,  indefatigable  energy,  and  a  warm,  loving  heart,  Dr. 
Parker  set  himself  to  his  work  with  a  faith  that  ignored  difficul- 
ties stupendous  enough  to  have  appalled  a  man  of  less  resolved 
purpose. 

Teaching  and  studying,  he  made  rapid  strides  in  the  acquisition 
of  the  language,  and  in  six  months  was  so  far  advanced  that  he 
could  converse  freely  and  preach  effectively.  Finding  that  ther- 
was  a  paucity  of  text-books  for  the  subjects  he  wished  to  teach, 
he  set  himself  to  the  work  of  translating  them.  In  the  course  of 
time  these  text-books  attracted  wide  attention,  and  he  easily  took 
first  rank  among  the  acknowledged  leaders  in  the  work  of  Chris- 
tian education  in  the  empire. 

Dr.  Parker  possesses  in  a  large  degree  the  power  of  repro- 
ducing his  habits  and  traits  of  character  in  his  boys.  Best  of  all, 
he  has  the  power  of  making  them  see  Christ  as  he  sees  him,  "the 
one  among  ten  thousand  altogether  lovely ;"  and  during  the  twen- 
ty years  that  he  was  in  charge  of  Buffington  Institute  few  boys 
passed  through  his  hands  without  having  felt  the  power  of  God 
in  salvation  from  sin.  They  usually  came  from  his  school  de- 
cided Christians. 

In  all  his  work  he  was  ably  assisted  by  his  lovely  and  devoted 
wife.  Having  no  children,  they  lived  frugally  and  turned  all  they 
could  save  from  their  salary  into  apparatus  for  the  school.  It 
was  most  interesting  to  visit  his  laboratory  and  workshop.  Hav- 
ing an  inventive  mind  and  a  skillful  hand,  he  manufactured  a  large 
number  of  the  instruments  required  in  teaching  natural  philoso- 
phy, chemistry,  and  mechanics.  He  connected  himself  with  the 
other  mission  compounds  by  telephone,  and  had  his  own  electric 
light.  In  all  of  this  work  he  took  his  boys  into  close  companion- 
ship, and  several  of  them  came  from  his  school  skilled  workmen 
in  wood  and  metal. 

His  usefulness  extends  far  beyond  our  own  mission.  In  the 
great  work  of  Bible  translation  ordered  by  the  General  Mission- 
ary Conference  in  1890  his  well-known  scholarship  in  the  Chi- 
nese classics  won  for  him  a  place  on  the  Board  of  Translators. 
He  has  several  times  been  elected  President  of  the  Educational 
Association  of  China,  which  office  I  believe  he  still  holds.  It  is 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT   IN    CHINA. 


375 


not  an  overstatement  to  say  that  as  a  well-rounded  missionary  he 
has  few  peers  and  perhaps  no  superiors. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  Soochow,  while  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant, was  also  one  of  the  most  difficult  fields  of  the  empire.  It 
had  just  been  ravaged  by  the  Taiping  rebels  and  pillaged  again 
by  the  Imperial  army  that,  under  the  ever-victorious  Gordon  and 
Li  Hung  Chang,  had  recaptured  the  city.  The  suburbs  were  a 
desolate  heap  of  ruins,  and  even  inside  the  city  large  sections  01" 
ground  were  covered  by  nothing  but  a  mass  of  debris.  Order 
had  been  somewhat  restored,  and  the  people  who  had  fled  to 
Shanghai  and  other  places  were  returning  and  rebuilding  their 
desolated  homes.  But  the  authority  of  the  officials  was  still  weak, 
and  the  city  was  full  of  renegade  Taipings  and  the  human  vul- 
tures that  prey  upon  a  distressed  community.  The  people 
were  proud,  conservative,  and,  above  all,  superstitious.  All 
sorts  of  rumors  were  set  afloat  by  evil-disposed  persons,  many  of 
which  were  started  to  make  missionaries  the  scapegoats  of  out- 
rages committed  by  bands  of  desperate  ruffians. 

For  example,  one  of  the  outrages  perpetrated  was  cutting  oft 
the  queue.  Men  would  come  oft"  the  streets,  and  to  their  con- 
sternation find  themselves  without  that  appendage,  so  dear  to 
the  heart  of  every  Chinaman.  To  cover  this  bold  robbery,  it 
was  reported,  and  believed  implicity,  that  the  foreigner  possesses : 
superhuman  powers,  among  which  was  the  ability  to  make  him- 
self invisible,  and  that  in  this  way  he  went  about  plundering  the 
people  of  their  hair,  for  use  in  foreign  countries  or  to  bewitch  the 
people.  Many  were  found  dead  in  houses  and  lonely  places,  and, 
to  prevent  too  close  investigation,  it  was  circulated  about  that  the 
foreigners  were  able  to  scatter  little  pieces  of  paper,  and  that  these 
papers,  falling  unnoticed  upon  a  person,  would  within  a  few  hours 
crush  his  life  out. 

These  are  mere  specimens  of  the  numberless  rumors  that  were 
industriously  circulated  to  arouse  suspicion  and  hatred,  and  so 
render  it  impossible  for  the  missionary  to  make  headway  in  his 
work.  It  was  evident  that  under  these  conditions  something 
more  than  mere  preaching  of  the  gospel  was  required.  Its  prin- 
ciples must  be  incarnated  in  practical  work  and  loving  ministries 
before  the  deep-seated  prejudices  excited  by  this  crusade  could 
be  expected  to  give  way.  With  this  in  view.  Dr.  Walter  Lambuth 
began  medical  work  in  Soochow  in  1882,  assisted  by  Dr.  W.  H. 
Park. 


Early  days  in 
Soochow . 


Tales  about 
the  foreigners. 


A  remedy 
found. 


376  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

REID-  Under  these  two  able  physicians  the  medical  department  of  our 

mission  was  most  successfully  launched.  The  hospital  planned 
by  Dr.  Lambuth  and  erected  under  his  supervision  is,  for  simplic- 
M  di  aiw  k  ^  °^  construction,  convenience,  and  suitability,  the  best  I  know 
anywhere;  and,  after  nearly  twenty  years,  still  remains  a  model 
for  mission  uses.  In  China  there  is  a  very  large  class  of  ills  in 
the  presence  of  which  the  so-called  Chinese  doctors  are  utterlv 
helpless,  but  which  are  immediately  relieved  under  the  knife  or 
treatment  of  a  skillful  Western  practitioner. 

Naturally,  at  first,  the  few  applicants  for  treatment  at  our  hos- 
pital were  poor  people  suffering  from  this  class  of  ailments;  but 
facts  are  stronger  than  fancies,  and  as  the  news  of  what  seemed 
to  be  miraculous  cures  spread  about,  the  calls  for  treatment  be- 
came more  frequent  and  from  a  better  class  of  people. 

In  1886  China  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  Dr.  Walter  Lam- 
buth, and  Japan  gained  him  as  the  Superintendent  of  our  young 
mission  in  that  empire.  His  work  was  taken  up  and  has  been 
Dr.Tw.'.K.  most  successfully  carried  on  by  Dr.  Park.  Gradually  but  sure- 
ly he.  has  won  his  way  into  the  confidence  of  all  classes,  and  has 
extended  the  influence  of  his  work  into  the  adjoining  provinces 
oi  An-whei  and  Che-kiang,  it  being  no  unusual  thing  for  men  to 
come  hundreds  of  miles  to  put  themselves  under  his  treatment. 

The  large  contributions  from  high  officials  and  wealthy  Chi- 
nese that  have  recently  come  to  us  through  his  hands  are  a  prac- 
tical test  of  his  influence  with  the  upper  classes,  while  the  fact 
that  more  than  fifteen  thousand  annually  seek  relief  at  our  hos- 
pitals in  Soochow  gives  some  idea  of  the  volume  of  his  work  and 
his  popularity  with  the  masses. 

In  his  ministry  of  healing  he  has  been  nobly  assisted  by  the 
lady  physicians  sent  out  by  the  Woman's  Board.  Dr.  Philips, 
Dr.  Walter  (now  Mrs.  Fearn),  and  later  Dr.  Margaret  Polk,  have 

Other  physi-  . 

clans."  all  won  splendid  laurels,  and  deserve  no  mean  share  of  credit  for 

the  wide  influence  our  mission  has  acquired  in  Soochow  and  the 
surrounding  country,  largely,  I  believe,  through  the  agency  oi 
our  medical  work. 

These  four  men  (Drs.  J.  W.  Lambuth,  Y.  J.  Allen,  A.  P.  Parker, 
and  W.  H.  Park)  have  not  only  been  leaders  of  the  departments 
in  which  the  efforts  of  our  China  Mission  have  been  directed,  but 
have  been  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  entire  movement  through- 
out the  empire.  They  have  made  our  little  mission,  one  of  the 
smallest  numerically  in  China,  to  take  a  foremost  place  among 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IN    CHINA. 


377 


Woman's 

work. 


the  potent  factors  that  are  being  employed  for  the  regeneration   REID- 
of  a  mighty  nation. 

That,  in  a  climate  so  unfriendly  that  five  years  has  been  the  es- 
timated period  of  a  missionary's  service,  they  and  their  noble  A  providence  in 
wives,  without  whom  they  could  never  have  achieved  this  large   health, 
success,  should  have  been  spared  to  an  aggregate  of  more  than 
two  hundred  and  forty  years,  is  to  me  a  remarkable  evidence  of 
the  overshadowing  providence  of  God. 

In  their  arduous  labors  they  have  found  able  colleagues  in  Dr. 
D.  L.  Anderson,  Revs.  G.  R.  Loehr,  W.  B.  Burke,  M.  B.  Hill,  J. 
L.  Hendry,  T.  A.  Hearn,  Ed  Pilley,  W.  B.  Nance,  and  other  men, 
whose  heroic  lives  and  indefatigable  labors  have  won  for  them  the 
grateful  appreciation  of  the  entire  Church. 

Our  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  has  been  no  less  happy  in  the 
selection  of  the  work  and  workers  which  have  supplemented  and 
strengthened  the  work  of  the  Parent  Board  at  every  point.  That 
peerless  mother  of  our  mission,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Lambuth,  laid  the 
foundation  broad  and  sure.  Upon  her  labors  the  Misses  Ran- 
kin,  Miss  Anna  Muse,  and  a  long  list  of  devoted  and  effective 
workers  have  entered.  In  the  glorious  record  of  woman's  work 
for  the  women  and  children  of  China  no  names  stand  out  clearer 
than  those  of  Laura  Haygood,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Campbell,  Mrs.  Julia  A. 
Gaither,  Jennie  Atkinson,  Elizabeth  Hughes,  Helen  Richardson, 
and  others  quite  as  worthy  of  mention. 

Having  been  associated  with  most  of  these  workers,  I  do  not 
remember  a  single  misfit.  How  fragrant  is  the  memory  of  those 
quietly  resting  in  the  cemetery  at  Shanghai !  and  how  precious 
to  us  are  the  lives  of  the  no  less  heroic  living  who  cheerfully  share 
our  toils  and  dangers  and  contribute  so  largely  to  our  success  ! 

3.  So  much  has  been  said  of  the  \vork  in  connection  with  re- 
marks about  the  workers  that  this  branch  of  our  subject  requires   The  character 
only  brief  mention.     \Ye  observe  that  the  various  departments   of  the  work, 
have  been  undertaken  in  the  natural  order  of  importance,  and  that 
as  each  new  step  has  become  necessary  both  the  men  and  the 
means  have  been  providentially  provided. 

In  using  the  term  "evangelistic"  to  name  the  first  department, 
it  is  not  intended  to  imply  that  a  single  energy  is  expended  on  our 
mission  field  that  has  not  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  as  its  chief 
aim.  It  is  merely  used  as  a  convenient  word  to  distinguish  that 
part  of  the  work  incident  to  the  direct  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
This  has  ever  been  held  in  our  China  Mission  as  of  the  first  impor- 


378 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


Location  of  our 
chapels. 


tance.  Several  of  our  best  men  have  given  themselves  to  it  ex- 
clusively, and  all  have  felt  it  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  devote  as 
much  time  to  the  exercise  of  the  high  office  of  preaching  the 
word  as  could  be  spared  from  the  more  immediate  interests  com- 
mitted to  them. 

In  the  selection  of  our  chief  preaching  places  we  have  been  sin- 
gularly fortunate.  The  chapels  at  Mo-long-ka  and  Kong-hong, 
in  Soochow,  are  excellent  places  to  spread  the  gospel  net,  while 
the  more  quiet  situation  of  First  Chapel  at  Tien-sz-tsong  is 
specially  suitable  for  gathering  our  Christian  congregation.  Our 
Central  Church  in  Shanghai,  which  Bishop  Wilson  has  recently 
renamed  Moore  Memorial,  is  the  best  stand  for  evangelistic  work 
I  know  of  anywhere.  In  easy  reach  of  the  choicest  native  ele- 
ment of  Shanghai,  it  is  also  well  situated  to  catch  the  strangers 
who  for  business  or  pleasure  constantly  throng  the  city.  Our 
handsome  church  here,  the  gift  of  a  noble  Missourian,  will  easily 
seat  four  hundred,  and  I  have  often  seen  every  foot  of  standing 
room  from  door  to  altar  packed  with  attentive  listeners. 

While  Dr.  Allen  is  perhaps  more  widely  known  in  the  field  of 
Christian  literature  for  the  Chinese  than  any  other  member  of  our 
mission,  he  has  been  by  no  means  our  only  contributor  to  this  im- 
portant department  of  work.  Dr.  J.  W.  Lambuth's  translations 
Literary  activ-  of  Binney's  "Compend  of  Theology,"  Ralston's  "Elements  of  Di- 
vinity," and  McTyeire's  "'Catechism"  have  found  large  use  out- 
side our  own  mission,  both  in  China  and  Japan.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Parker's  text-books  have  become  standards  in  Christian  schools 
throughout  the  empire,  while  the  elder  Lambuth  and  others  have 
done  excellent  work  in  Bible  and  hymn  book  translation  and  re- 
vision. We  have  borne  our  full  share  of  this  burden,  and  can 
point  with  pardonable  pride  to  the  number  and  character  of  books 
in  the  Chinese  language  that  have  been  produced  by  members  of 
our  mission. 

In  the  work  of  education  we  have  been  specially  active  and  suc- 
cessful. Clopton  School,  founded  by  Mrs.  J.  W.  Lambuth  in  the 
early  days  of  our  mission,  because  the  mother  and  model  of  other 
schools  for  girls  at  Nantziang  and  Soochow,  and  the  McTyeire 
High  School  is  a  legitimate  outgrowth  and  development  of  work 
in  this  line. 

Out  of  the  class  of  boys  gathered  by  the  elder  Lambuth  natu- 
rally grew  the  Buffington  Institute,  which  has  been  so  fruitful  in 
supplying  our  mission  with  trained  native  workers.  The  con- 


E  '-jcational 
work. 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IN    CHINA.  379 

ception  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  College  was  an  inspiration  that  has  RKID- 
opened  for  us  a  wide  and  effectual  door  to  the  higher  classes  and 
extended  our  influence  to  all  those  departments  of  government 
where  a  knowledge  of  English,  Western  literature,  and  science  is 
a  sine  qua  non  to  official  appointment,  while  the  medical  classes  in 
the  hospitals  at  Soochow  have  grown  out  of  the  necessities  of  that 
ever-enlarging  work. 

4.  He  who  would  measure  the  success  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise in  its  earlier  stages  by  the  number  of  converts  that  can  be 
counted  show  ignorance  of  missionary  history  and  an  immature 
conception  of  the  work  to  be  done.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  The  success 

•  •      •  n  ^.i  •  111  P         1         1  ttoit  has  at- 

the  entire  missionary  force  in  China  could  boast  of  only  three   tended  the 
converts  after  thirty  years  of  effort,  and  that  after  seventy  years,  work, 
with  greatly  augmented  forces,  there  were  only  thirteen  thousand. 

Our  mission  shared  with  others  the  immense  labor  of  break- 
ing down  the  apparently  impregnable  Gibraltars  of  difficulty  that 
barred  progress.  The  foundations  of  Protestant  Christianity  in 
China  were  laid  out  of  the  sight  and  sympathy  of  superficial  ob- 
servers, and  in  them  many  brave  men  and  noble  women  put  their 
lives  uncomplainingly,  believing  that  in  God's  good  time  he  would 
erect  on  them  a  temple  of  dazzling  beauty,  and  fill  it  with  the  glory 
of  his  presence.  In  later  years,  however,  even  measured  by  a 
statistical  standard,  we  have  abundant  evidence  of  God's  pres- 
ence and  blessing. 

Since  the  organization  of  our  Conference,  in  1886,  we  have  on 
an  average  doubled  our  membership  every  four  years,  and  now  re- 
ceive annually  as  many  as  we  had  accumulated  in  all  the  years  pre-   Tfae  true 
,,  V™  .  .      measure. 

vious  to  that  event.      Ihe  true  measure  oi  our  work,  however,  is 

the  degree  to  which  we  have  leavened  the  great  mass  of  heathen- 
ism around  us,  and  made  it  possible  to  detach  the  individual 
members  therefrom. 

It  must  be  admitted  that,  for  the  large  results  achieved  in  this 
direction,  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to  the  educational  and  medical 
departments  of  our  work.  It  has  been  the  gospel  of  patient  and 
loving  ministry  that  has  won  the  confidence  and  opened  the  ears 
of  those  otherwise  deaf  to  the  preaching-  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Take,  for  example,  the  city  of  Soochow.     In  the  beginnings  of 
our  work  here,  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  missionary  was  in  con-    value  of  er;j- 
tact  with  danger  and  in  constant  peril  of  his  life.     The  officials   tional  and 

.  medical 

hated  us  and  used  every  possible  method  to  prevent  our  getting  a   work. 
foothold.     The  numerous  and  powerful  literati,  ignoring  the  tra- 


38o 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


A  change  in 
treatment. 


Th2  pillar  that 
has  led  us. 


The  awaken- 
ing of  China. 


ditions  of  their  class,  were  openly  insolent,  and  incited  the  people 
to  violence  by  vile  and  slanderous  placards  which  they  had  posted 
everywhere.  When  we  appeared  on  the  streets,  we  were  followed 
by  crowds  of  howling  rowdies  and  half-grown  boys,  shouting  after 
us  contemptuous  epithets,  among  which  "foreign  devil"  and  "rob- 
ber" were  so  comparatively  mild  as  to  almost  seem  respectful. 
They  feared  us,  believing  that  we  possessed  superhuman  power 
to  harm ;  but  they  hated  us  so  intensely  that  they  could  not  re- 
frain from  insulting  and  injuring  us  whenever  opportunity  pre- 
sented. We  were  constantly  annoyed  by  petty  thieving,  hustled 
in  crowded  streets,  pulled  against  buckets  of  filth  as  if  by  acci- 
dent, or  greeted  with  a  shower  of  dirt  or  brickbats  in  passing 
places  affording  shelter  for  such  attacks. 

How  marked  the  change !  There  are,  of  course,  rowdies  and 
mischievous  urchins  still  to  be  found  in  Soochow,  and  occasion- 
ally one  may  hear  a  distant  "Yang-kwei-tsz"  (foreign  devil),  which 
is  usually  quickly  suppressed;  but  for  the  most  part  we  live  in 
peace.  Even  our  ladies  may  safely  pass  through  any  part  of  the 
city  unattended  and  without  disrespectful  treatment.  The  peo- 
ple, from  the  highest  official  to  the  humblest  peasant,  are  not 
only  tolerant  but  in  many  cases  most  generously  kind  and  ap- 
preciative. Practical  testimony  of  the  change  of  sentiment  to- 
ward us  is  not  wanting,  and  during  the  last  two  years  it  has  accu- 
mulated in  a  remarkable  degree. 

Thus  far  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by 
night  has  led  us  step  by  step,  and  step  by  step  we  have  followed 
on.  It  is  not  claimed  that  our  workers  have  been  faultless  nor 
that  serious  mistakes  have  been  altogether  avoided.  No  such 
claim  can  be  set  up  for  the  Israelites  or  the  work  of  the  apostles; 
yet  God  fought  the  battles  of  the  one,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  di- 
rected and  inspired  the  other.  To  those  most  interested  in  our 
China  Mission,  this  pillar  is  seen  to  be  lifting  for  another  decided 
move  forward,  and  the  direction  is  in  the  development  of  our  edu- 
cational work,  and  the  first  indication  is  the  urgent  need  for  such 
a  move. 

iiy  a  succession  of  shocks,  some  of  them  exceedingly  rude,  the 
giant  empire  has  at  last  been  fully  aroused  from  the  lethargic 
slumber  of  ages  to  face  a  thousand  new  and  unknown  forces 
which,  with  vehement  and  ever-increasing  persistency,  clamor  at 
her  doors.  She  would  fain  shut  them  all  out;  but,  finding  this 
impossible,  she  is  beginning  to  realize  that  her  very  life  depends 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IX    CHINA.  381 

upon  her  ability  to  meet  them  with  equal  strength.     Most  nat-  REI1 
urally,  she  first  tried  the  ancient  resources  that  had  served  her 
so  well  in  the  past ;  but  just  as  the  ancient  bow  and  spear  utterly 
failed  her  in  the  presence  of  the  modern  machine  guns  and  steam 
warships,  so  she  finds  that  the  obsolete  classics  and  ancient  folk- 
lore of  China  provide  her  no  defense  against  the  moro  subtle 
forces  of  advancing  civilization.     For  years  her  most  enlightened 
statesmen,  such  as  Li  Hung  Chang,  Chang  Chi  Tung,  Liu  Kun 
Ye,  Kang  Yu  Wei,  and  even  the  young  Emperor,  have  seen  the   , lissionary  V3 
absolute  necessity  of  mastering  the  secrets  of  Western  power,   sceptic, 
in  order  to  provide  themselves  with  the  means  of  self-preserva- 
tion. 

The  question  was,  Through  what  media  shall  this  new  knowl- 
edge be  introduced?  Shall  it  be  the  missionary  or  the  irreligious, 
generally  antireligious,  instructor  that  can  be  had  from  France, 
Germany,  or  the  English-speaking  nations?  She  tried  a  little  of 
both,  and  in  trying  learned  some  important  lessons. 

The  result  is  that  her  most  trusted  men,  in  the  Imperial  Cus- 
toms and  other  departments  where  foreigners  are  employed,  are, 
like  Sir  Robert  Hart,  stanch  Christians.  The  President  and  sev- 
eral of  the  teachers  of  the  Imperial  University,  her  most  notable 
effort  at  Wrestern  education,  are  missionaries.  Additional  evi- 
dence that  the  best  and  most  powerful  statesmen  in  China  prefer 
the  missionaries  as  teachers  may  be  found  in  the  appeal  to  Bishop 
Hendrix  made  by  Li  Hung  Chang  in  person  :  "Urge  youi  people 
to  send  us  more  teachers  and  physicians."  I  or  the  last  ten  vears 
he  has  had  a  standing  requisition  for  our  boys  at  the  Angio-Chi-  The  Christian 
ness  College,  and  places  before  them  oners  of  lucrative  and  lion-  ^tcendant 
orable  employment  so  tempting  that,  in  spite  of  all  efrurts.  our 
boys  leave  us  long  before  we  think  them  fit  fur  the  work.  Y\  it- 
ness  also  missionaries  at  the  head  of  the  great  government  schools 
at  Shanghai,  and  the  persistent  efforts  of  Liu  Kun  Ye,  viceroy  of 
the  lower  Yang-tse  valley,  to  entice  utir  own  Dr.  Parker  away 
from  us  to  take  the  presidency  of  the  university  he  wished  to  es- 
tablish at  Xunking.  Xo,  in  spite  of  all  the  fuss  that  is  made  in 
some  quarters  about  the  antipathy  of  the  Chinese  to  missiona- 
ries, let  me  say,  with  all  the  emphasis  possible,  that  if  the  mission- 
aries are  not  the  men  who  shall  lead  China  out  into  the  light  and 
power  of  modern  education,  which  in  some  way  will  surely  come 
to  her,  the  fault — nay.  the  crime — will  rest  nowhere  but  on  the 
Church  of  Christ.  We  have  it  in  our  power  to  mold  the 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Soochow  Uni- 
versity. 


The  Anglo- 
Chicese  Col- 
lege. 


Che  girls' 


leaders  of  a  new  China.  Shall  we  grasp  the  opportunity  or  shall 
we  weakly  stand  aside  and  let  it  pass  to  other  hands? 

Another  indication  is,  that  we  are  prepared  for  a  forward  move 
by  the  work  already  so  successfully  accomplished.  In  fact,  it  is 
the  only  legitimate  and  natural  thing  for  us  to  do. 

When  we  speak  of  establishing  a  university  at  Soochow,  it  is 
not  proposed  to  begin  a  great  enterprise,  but  merely  to  complete 
a  work  upon  which  we  have  been  employed  for  twenty  years,  and 
for  which  we  have  the  material  already  in  hand.  Buffington  In- 
stitute, founded  by  the  large-hearted  Kentuckian  whose  name  it 
bears,  has  paved  the  way  and  will  furnish  candidates  for  the  theo- 
logical department. 

The  classes  under  Drs.  Park,  Fearn,  Polk,  and  Trawick  make 
a  splendid  nucleus  for  the  medical  department,  and  the  daily 
clinics  at  our  hospitals,  where  15,900  patients  are  treated  annually, 
give  opportunity  for  practical  instruction  not  excelled  by  any  of 
the  great  medical  schools  of  America  or  Great  Britain. 

The  Anglo-Chinese  College  is  doing  the  preparatory  work  for 
the  departments  of  literature  and  science.  The  only  really  new 
feature  that  we  shall  have  to  add  is  that  of  practical  engineering, 
which  the  peculiar  needs  of  China  just  at  this  time  will  make  nec- 
essary. For  the  most  part,  the  work  of  the  university  will  only 
be  the  extension  and  enlargement  of  that  which  is  already  well 
begun.  All  the  schools  of  the  mission  will  be  correlated  with  it, 
having  curricula  adjusted  to  and  leading  up  to  the  higher  work. 

All  the  foregoing  arguments  in  favor  of  enlarged  educational 
facilities  for  the  Parent  Board  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  work 
of  the  Woman's  Board.  Side  by  side  they  have  advanced  with 
us,  beginning  with  the  simpler  day  schools  and  gradually  develop- 
ing and  enlarging  the  curricula  of  the  boarding  schools  at  Shang- 
hai, Nantziang,  arid  Soochow,  until  at  last  the  way  opened  for 
such  work  as  is  being  done  ar  the  McTyeire  School,  founded  by 
Miss  Haygood. 

The  time  has  now  arrived  when  further  development  of  work 
in  hand,  and  the  constantly  increasing  demand  for  female  educa- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  more  enlightened  Chinese,  call  for  a  more 
comprehensive  course  and  enlarged  facilities.  Our  ladies  have 
decided  to  name  this  new  enterprise  the  Laura  Haygood  Memo- 
rial ;  and  what  more  graceful  tribute  could  a  grateful  Church  pay 
to  the  memory  of  her  who  so  willingly  and  lovingly  laid  her  peer- 
less womanhood  at  the  feet  of  her  benighted  Chinese  sisters? 


FORWARD    MOVEMENT    IN    CHINA.  383 

The  last  providential  indication  that  I  shall  mention  is  the  oppor- 
tunity thrust  upon  us.     That  from  a  class  of  men  Which  only  a  few 
years  ago  regarded  us  with  abhorrence  and  were  ready  to  go  to  Tiie  open  door 
any  extreme  to  thwart  and  hinder  our  work  should  come  the  great  and 
proposition  to  establish  for  the  benefit  of  their  sons  a  great  Chris- 
tian school,  and  that  they  should  back  that  proposal  by  pledging 
$25,000  to  inaugurate  the  enterprise,  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  mis- 
sionary triumph. 

These  men  have  trusted  us.  From  avowed  enemies  they  have 
come  to  be  not  only  friends  but  sympathetic  and  active  colabor- 
ers.  All  through  the  terrible  troubles  which  have  recently  shaken 
the  empire  to  its  foundations  they  have  never  wavered  in  their  al- 
legiance to  us.  On  the  contrary,  they  have,  in  the  midst  of  these 
unpropitious  conditions,  furnished  all  the  money  so  far  expended 
in  acquiring  and  inclosing  our  splendid  campus  of  more  than  nine 
acres.  They  now  want  to  see  what  we  are  going  to  do.  Prompt 
and  effective  action  on  our  part  will  stimulate  their  generosity,  GJ  forward, 
and  open  the  door  for  financial  assistance  from  the  gentry  that 
will  go  far  toward  solving  the  problem  of  self-support  in  our  Chi- 
na Mission ;  while  a  weak  and  hesitating  policy  will  lose  their  con- 
fidence and  do  irreparable  injury  to  the  prestige  built  by  twenty- 
five  years  of  toil  and  sacrifice. 

It  is  to  me  a  cause  for  humble  but  glad  thanksgiving  that  our 
God  has  thrown  wide  open  before  our  beloved  Southern  Metho- 
dism the  gate  of  this  great  opportunity.  A  failure  on  our  part  to 
promptly  enter  in  would  be  to  slight  the  loud  call  of  our  Lord. 
It  would  dishonor  the  noble  dead  who  by  lives  of  sacrifice  have 
paved  the  way  to  this  work,  and  would  dishearten  the  no  less  he 
roic  living  whom  we  have  sent  to  do  our  work  in  a  distant  and  dif- 
ficult field,  and  who  from  their  posts  are  now  eagerly  watching 
to  see  what  we  will  do  with  their  appeal. 

"No  man,  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plow,  and  looketh  back,  is 
fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God." 


384  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

THE  SITUATION  IN  CHINA. 

BISHOP   A.  W.  WILSON,  D.D. 

NOBODY  regrets  more  deeply  than  I  do  the  absence  of  our 
brother,  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension,  a  man 
of  great  capabilities,  clear  head,  and  sound  judgment,  and,  with 
all  due  respect  to  every  one  else  in  the  Church,  the  best  suited, 
within  my  knowledge,  for  the  work  to  which  the  Church  has 
called  him. 

1  wish  he  were  here,  but  a  heavy  stroke  has  fallen  upon  him. 
His  life  has  been  darkened,  and,  like  all  true  men  and  men  ot 
strong  faith,  at  such  a  time  he  feels  that  it  becomes  him  to  be 
dumb  with  silence,  because  "Thou  didst  it."  And  he  sits  in  quiet- 
Dr.  WMsner.  ness,  waiting  until  the  weight  of  the  heavy  calamity  shall  have 
been  somewhat  lightened  by  the  stronger  and  fuller  ministrations 
of  God's  grace. 

His  paper  has  been  placed  in  my  hands.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
just  to  him  to  read  it;  but  it  will  be  printed,  and  I  am  going  to  let 
you  read  it  for  yourselves,*  and  I  shall  take  the  opportunity  to 
dwell  upon  themes  that  are  suggested  in  connection  with  the  work. 
It  gives  some  statistics  that  are  of  value ;  and  I  shall  cite  one  or 
two  of  them,  to  let  you  see  what  the  practical  meaning  of  the 
Church  Extension  organization  is. 

In  eighteen  years  the  general  fund  contributed  by  the  Church 
for  Church  Extension  was  $884,789.84;  and  to  that  amount  you 
may  add  $42,688.13  raised  as  "specials."  Of  this  amount,  $811,- 
242  has  been  donated  to  Churches.  He  tells  the  number  of 
Churches  that  have  been  helped,  a  very  large  number  in  all  the 
Conferences,  and  especially  in  the  mission  Conferences  of  the 
West :  and  he  makes  an  argument  and  an  appeal  to  the  Church 
which  I  hope  will  be  heeded.  It  is  a  work  that  belongs  not  simply 
to  the  Church  at  home, largely  as  its  objects  and  effects  have  been 
confined  to  the  field  here;  it  has  in  occasional  instances  touched 
the  field  abroad.  We  have  one  church  in  Japan  that  was  built 
through  the  Church  Extension  Board;  and  I  may  add  that  it  is 
the  onlv  church  we  have  in  Japan  that  was  built  by  foreign  funds. 
They  build  their  own  churches  over  there;  yon  don't  do  it  for 
ihem.  with  this  single  exception. 


THE   SITUATION    IN    CHINA. 


385 


In  the  Mexican  and  other  fields  the  Church  Extension  Board  W1LSON- 
has  contributed  to  the  erection  of  churches.  So  it  ought  to  be. 
I  wish  we  could  get  it  thoroughly  wrought  into  our  thought  and 
feeling  that  the  Conferences  of  Asia  and  Mexico  and  Brazil  are 
just  as  much  a  part  of  the  great  body  of  the  Church  as  you  that 
are  more  centrally  situated  here,  and  ought  to  be  represented  and 
cared  for  in  all  the  plans  of  the  Church. 

It  is  rather  a  singular  thing,  to  my  mind,  that  whenever  we 
come  before  the  Church  Extension  Board  with  an  application  on  should  the 
behalf  of  a  foreign  Church,  it  is  held  to  be  somewhat  exceptional,  Church  Exten- 

j  .1      ,   ,  1       -o         j  r  sion  Board 

and  that  the  board  seems  to  be  regarded  as  an  institution  for  the  help  in  the 
benefit  of  the  home  Church,  which  is  amply  able  to  take  care  of  it-  foreign  work? 
self,  and  that  it  is  a  waste  of  its  resources,  or  at  least  an  unfair  di- 
version of  its  funds,  to  apply  them  to  the  foreign  field.  But  it  is 
all  one.  "The  world  is  my  parish,  and  it  is  one  parish,"  Wesley 
says ;  and  that  has  been  the  watchword  of  Methodism  from  his 
day  until  now.  There  is  no  limit,  until  we  get  beyond  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  earth,  to  the  operations  of  the  Church ;  and  not  yet  a 
limit  there,  for  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  is  to  be  made  known  by  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God. 

We  are  striving  to  unite  all  the  parts.  They  may  be  territori- 
ally separated,  but  the  ocean  doesn't  amount  to  anything  nowa- 
days. We  have  steam  and  electricity.  Men's  hearts  beat  along 
the  telegraph  wires  and  through  the  cables,  and  the  pulse  is  felt 
on  this  side  just  as  soon  as  it  makes  its  stroke  there.  The  sound 
of  the  voice  in  Paris  or  London  is  heard,  or  will  be  shortly,  at  the 
end  of  the  new  telephone  cable  on  this  side  of  the  sea. 

We  don't  intend  that  there  shall  be  a  distinction.     But  there  is 
a  distinction;  just  one;  mark  it.     There  are  heathen  nations  and 
there  are  Christian  nations.     That  is  the  distinction.     There  are 
heathen  communities  and  there  are  Christian  communities ;  but   The  gogpe]  for 
that  only  puts  the  obligation  on  the  Christian  community  the  every  crea- 
more  strongly  to  see  to  it  that  the  heathen  communities  are  put   ture' 
in  the  right  attitude  toward  God,  and  reclaimed  from  their  deg- 
radation.    We  cannot  afford  to  let  any  spot  of  this  earth  of  ours, 
redeemed  by  the  blood  that  stained  the  soil  of  Palestine,  be  held 
under  the  dominion  of  demon  or  devil.     It  all  belongs  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  we  intend  that  he  shall  have  it. 

I  simply  want  you  to  understand  that.     You  are  not  commis- 
17 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

sioned  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  American  people. 
Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  it.  Go  where  Christ  wants  you 
to  go.  Go  where  Christ  has  sent  you.  Go  where  you  are  most 
needed.  If  nobody  will  feed  you,  he  will ;  if  nobody  will  support 
you,  he  will  take  care  that  you  are  supported,  if  you  go  where  he 
wants  you  to  go. 

The  Church  has  been  apathetic  and  neglectful.  There  is  no 
question  about  that.  I  have  a  great  mind  to  indulge  a  little  in 
reminiscence.  I  was  thinking  of  some  things  while  Dr.  Lam- 
Twenty  years  buth  was  reading  from  a  paper  summing  up  the  present  condi- 
tions of  office  administration.  When  in  1878,  greatly  to  my  sur- 
prise, the  Church  said,  "You  must  go  in  and  take  hold  of  that 
work,"  I  went  into  an  office  where  there  was  not  a  clerk  or  a  type- 
writer. There  wasn't  a  thing  there  except  a  big  debt  and  a  mass 
of  correspondence  that  was  strewn  on  the  floor  with  brown  paper 
heaped  over  it  and  no  classification  of  it.  I  didn't  know  what  lav 
before  me.  It  was  all  chaos  and  confusion.  They  told  me  I  must 
do  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church.  The  Church  apparently 
didn't  care  whether  anything  was  done  or  not,  and  it  was  seriously 
contemplating  recalling  all  its  missionaries  and  abandoning  the 
entire  field.  My  \vife  and  daughters  were  my  clerks  and  letter 
writers  during  the  time  I  was  there.  If  I  could  only  have  had  an 
assistant  secretary,  a  clerk,  and  a  typewriter,  I  might  have  done  a 
good  deal  more  ;  but  I  had  to  do  all  the  work  in  the  field  and  let 
my  wife  and  daughter  do  the  work  in  the  office  at  home. 

Well,  that  was  the  appointment  and  the  furniture  and  every- 
thing. Is  it  any  wonder  that  I  did  not  do  any  more?  I  had  to 
wake  the  conscience  of  the  Church,  too;  and  I  went  to  work  on 
that.  I  did  more  :  I  dared  to  make  a  debt  for  the  Church.  Wo 
had  a  debt  already,  and  we  had  nobody  in  the  field  except  the 
veterans,  Y.  J.  Allen  and  J.  W.  Lambuth.  and  one  or  two  others. 
The  thing  was  simply  dying  of  inanition,  and  so  I  told  Bishop 
Pierce  at  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Conferences  that  I  was  go- 
ing to  do  something  or  quit — make  a  spoon  or  spoil  a  horn — and 
that  he  must  send  some  one  out.  He  did  so;  and  when  I  got  to 
Nashville  the  Board  met  and  pounced  down  on  me  with  all  their 
hands  and  feet  because  I  had  dared  to  send  additional  men  into  the 
field  when  they  hadn't  any  money  and  were  in  debt.  I  told  them  I 
didn't  care  if  they  were  in  debt,  and  I  hoped  they  would  get  in 
debt  a  good  deal  more ;  that  if  we  were  going  to  do  any  work  we 


THE    SITUATION    IN    CHINA.  387 

must  do  it  at  once ;  and  if  we  weren't  going  to  do  it,  we  might  as  WILSON- 
well  disband  the  Church  and  quit;  that  we  were  not  here  to  work 
for  ourselves.     This  stirred  things  up  a  little.     We  got  some  con- 
tributions, and  the  eye  of  the  Church  began  to  be  turned  toward   .,stlrring 
the  thing.     So  we  made  a  start,  and  the  impetus  and  momentum  things  up. 
have  been  increasing  until  we  have  men  in  the  office  to-day  who 
are  capable  of  management,  with  wide  knowledge  and  large  expe- 
rience, with  their  hearts  in  the  work,  and  the  Church  has  grown 
so  far  as  to  give  them  clerks  to  do  their  writing. 

Now  we  have  the  outcome  of  twenty  years  of  work  in  that  office 
and  through  all  the  field  of  the  Church  in  this  meeting  to-day. 
Sometimes  I  think  it  would  be  supreme  joy,  after  our  eyes  are 
opened  on  the  light  of  that  glorious  world,  just  to  sit  down  for  a 
few  decades  of  centuries  and  talk  with  Paul  and  John,  and  go  back 
with  Isaiah  and  Abraham,  and  learn  just  how  it  was  and  by  what 
spiritual  processes  they  were  led  through  the  deserts  of  this  world 
and  became  the  seed-sowers  of  life  to  ages  after,  planting  the 
truth  upon  foundations  that  could  not  be  shaken.  I  should  like 
to  hear  them  tell  their  experience.  Yet  I  feel  as  if  we  have  some- 
thing close  akin  to  it  when  we  sit  here  with  such  people  as  Allen 
and  Lambuth,  and  Mrs.  Lambuth  and  Carter  and  Tarboux.  Valoe  of  t 
When  these  Mexican  and  Chinese  and  Japanese  and  Brazilian  conference. 
missionaries  tell  us  what  they  have  done  and  the  experiences  they 
have  gone  through,  it  brings  us  very  near  to  the  threshold  of  the 
eternal  city;  and  I  don't  wonder  that  the  gushing  forth  of  the 
fountain  of  life  from  these  men  has  stirred  this  assembly  to  its 
depths,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  result  poured  forth  in  such  con- 
tributions as  have  been  made  to  the  great  cause.  You  don't  know 
what  a  marvelous  load  was  lifted  from  my  shoulders  and  my  heart 
when  I  found  on  last  Sunday  night  the  work  of  twenty  years  of 
planning  and  thought  and  agonizing  prayer  consummated  intoone 
collection.  We  know  this  glorious  work  will  be  done  now,  if  we 
were  in  doubt  before.  I  have  said,  from  the  time  I  entered  upon 
the  work,  when  the  Board  determined  it  should  be  done.  "It  shall 
be  done."  An  old  friend  of  mine  over  in  Maryland,  a  man  Dl 
wealth  and  profound  interest  in  the  Church,  and  a  very  good  man, 
said  to  me  when  I  told  him  what  was  proposed:  ''You  will  never 
be  able  to  do  it.''  "It  must  be  clone,"  I  said  ;  "and  it  shall  be  done, 
if  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  !"  And  we  have  got  to  the  point  now 
where  we  know  it  will  be  done.  You  can't  stop  it.  You  have 


388 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


Soochow  Uni- 
versity. 


Present  status 

of  education 
in  China. 


sent  out  currents  of  life  and  electrical  force  that  are  going  to  touch 
every  sensitive  spot  in  the  Church's  heart  and  body,  throughout 
its  whole  extent ;  and  when  the  answer  comes  back,  we  shall  know 
that  the  Church  is  extending  in  every  direction,  in  its  spiritual 
force  and  educational  life,  and  in  every  movement  that  promises 
to  bring  the  world  nearer  to  Christ  and  turn  the  eyes  of  men  till 
they  are  focused  upon  the  face  of  the  Son  of  God.  We  are  going 
to  do  it. 

I  have  not  done  much ;  I  wish  I  could  have  done  more,  but  I 
have  been  unequal  to  the  demand  made  upon  me  and  have  not 
been  furnished  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  situation  ;  but  it  has 
been  the  joy  of  my  life  that  for  more  than  twenty  years  I  have 
been  identified,  heart  and  soul  and  life  and  brain  and  hand,  \vith 
our  missionary  work.  It  has  been  the  one  chief  thing  with  me. 
I  expect  to  die  with  "China"  and  "Japan"  written  upon  my  heart. 
T  don't  intend  to  give  up.  I  can't  give  up  my  interest  in  these 
things  until  with  my  last  lingering  breath  I  pronounce  his  name, 
and  even  then  I  will  declare  him  Lord  of  all. 

The  special  movement  which  was  in  contemplation  Sunday- 
night,  and  which  has  been  on  our  minds  for  so  long,  has  a  sig- 
nificance which  I  may  say  without  hesitation  cannot  be  appreci- 
ated by  any  one  who  has  not  been  on  the  spot  and  had  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  conditions  and  life  of  the  people.  It  is  not 
simply  to  give  the  people  an  education  that  shall  lift  them  out  of 
ignorance  and  free  them  from  superstition,  but  it  is  almost  the  only 
hope  we  have  of  bringing  Christ  into  the  thought  and  life  and 
homes  of  Chinese  people.  Education  is  the  one  dominant  idea 
with  them.  It  rules  everywhere,  and  they  don't  think  that  any- 
thing can  be  done  without  it,  and  the  stamp  that  is  put  upon  edu- 
cational process  is  the  stamp  that  will  be  put  upon  their  home  life, 
upon  their  social  life,  upon  their  civil  life.  If  you  will  make  the 
education  a  Christian  education,  it  will  affect  every  man  in  the 
empire,  from  the  Emperor  down  to  the  lowest  coolie.  That  is  the 
meaning  of  it.  We  can't  afford  to  let  the  question  stand  in  abey- 
ance. We  want,  and  we  intend  to  have  in  fullest  measure,  what 
you  call  evangelical  work.  Our  educational  work  is  evangelical, 
but  we  mean  to  have  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  direct,  in  all  its 
simplicity  and  force,  and  all  the  time;  and  every  man  that  goes 
there  to  help  in  the  work  of  education  goes  to  preach  the  gospel. 
If  he  does  not  do  that  in  his  personal  intercourse  with  the  people. 


THE   SITUATION    IN    CHINA.  389 

in  the  pulpits  of  the  Church,  on  the  platform,  and  in  every  way  he 
can,  we  don't  want  him.  We  don't  want  any  man  that  will  not 
stand  out  as  the  living  and  vocal  representative  of  Jesus  Christ 
before  the  people.  We  want  that  distinctly  understood.  WTe 
want  first-class  laymen  for  our  teachers.  I  wish  we  could  get 
laymen  that  would  grow  up  to  the  measure  and  stature  of  such 
men  as  Landon  Garland  and  James  Carlisle,  to  send  out  there 
and  let  them  devote  their  consecrated  manhood  and  scholarship 
and  energy  and  spiritual  life  to  this  educational  work,  and  along 
with  it  the  amelioration  of  the  social  conditions  and  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  Christ  among  the  people.  A  good  body  of  laymen  of  that 
sort  among  our  schools  in  China  would  be  worth  more  to  us  than 
preachers.  We  can  use  the  preachers  outside  of  the  school,  and 
we  can  use  the  laymen  inside  the  school ;  we  cannot  use  the 
preachers  entirely.  It  has  been  thought  that  we  must  have  only  La  ^^ 
preachers  for  missionaries.  Well,  I  sent  a  layman  to  Japan  a  ed  too. 
number  of  years  ago  as  a  missionary ;  sent  him  there  to  teach.  I 
won't  say  he  was  the  best  of  them,  but  there  were  none  better  than 
he,  anyhow.  But  (I  was  going  to  say,  very  unhappily)  he  would 
not  remain  a  layman,  and  after  he  had  been  teaching  them  and 
preaching  to  them,  setting  forth  Christ  to  them  privately  and  in 
such  ways  as  he  could,  they  pressed  him  into  service  in  the  minis- 
try and  had  him  licensed  and  ordained ;  and  he  is  a  full-fledged 
member  of  the  Conference  now,  and  a  first-rate  one,  too.  Well,  I 
can't  regret  that,  but  we  want  laymen  still.  Why  is  it  that  the 
whole  business  of  converting  souls  is  thrown  upon  the  preacher? 
Who  ever  authorized  such  a  thing?  Who  ever  required  such  a 
thing?  It  is  not  God's  ordinance.  Does  James  mean  only 
preachers  when  he  says  :  ''Let  him  know,  that  he  which  converteth 
the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death?" 
Does  he  mean  the  preacher  only,  and  nobody  else,  to  do  that  sort 
of  work?  Not  by  a  great  deal.  And  I  want  to  say  to  you  that 
the  work  of  the  Church  of  God  in  the  foreign  and  the  home  lands 
never  will  be  done  until  every  layman  and  every  laywoman  in  the 
Church  shall  do  just  exactly  what  God  wants  him  and  her  to  do, 
in  a  distinctly  spiritual  and  evangelical  direction. 

But  I  don't  wish  to  be  diverted  from  the  real  point  at  issue. 
We  have  a  field  out  there  that  is  widening  every  day.  I  won't 
stop  to  talk  of  Japan,  particularly  interested  as  I  am  and  great  as 
its  needs  are  ;  but  some  day  we  shall  have  to  take  that  up  and  deal 


39° 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


What  the 
Boxer  out- 
break will  be 
worth. 


Fortitude  and 
zeal  of  the 
Chinese 
Christians. 


with  it  as  we  are  proposing  now  to  deal  with  China.  The  pecul- 
iar situation  there  demands  attention,  and  immediate  and  urgent 
attention.  The  outbreak  there  sometimes  makes  me  think  of  a 
little  parable  spoken  by  one  of  the  parties,  that  I  read  in  some  lit- 
tle book  some  time  ago  (I  don't  remember  the  name  of  it  now). 
There  was  a  young  girl  that  was  thrown  from  a  horse  and  injured, 
and,  from  being  an  immensely  active  and  energetic  girl  all  the  day 
at  some  sort  of  movement,  she  became  absolutely  helpless,  pros- 
trate. A  young  preacher  of  the  gospel  said  to  her :  "Look  out  on 
that  prairie ;  how  bleak  and  barren  it  is !"  "Yes."  "Well,  look 
down  yonder,  where  there  was  once  an  earthquake,  which  rent  and 
rove  the  surface  of  the  plain,  caused  great  cracks  and  ravines,  and 
threw  up  the  rocks  from  beneath.  If  you  will  look  down  there, 
you  will  see  all  sorts  of  things  growing — trees  and  flowers  such  as 
the  prairie  never  saw!  Well,  God  has  smitten  you  in  the  same 
way,  but  out  of  the  caverns  in  your  spiritual  life  will  come  up  a 
new  growth  of  beauty  and  life  such  as  you  never  dreamed  of,  just 
as  out  of  that  storm-riven  prairie  have  come  flowers  and  trees." 

So,  out  there,  the  storm  of  war  has  broken  up  the  even  sur- 
face of  Chinese  life,  and  we  are  already  getting  some  experience 
such  as  the  world  has  never  seen.  You  talk  about  the  martyrs  of 
the  early  ages,  and  their  constancy  and  devotion.  They  never 
surpassed  that  which  we  have  seen  within  the  past  year  over  in 
China.  You  talk  about  the  simplicity  and  purity  and  beauty  of 
the  Christian  character  under  such  conditions.  You  should  have 
seen  the  easy  and  calm  demeanor  of  those  Christian  Chinese  dur- 
ing that  trying  time.  When  all  this  storm  was  going  on,  shak- 
ing the  atmosphere  about  them,  they  were  utterlyplacid  and  as  un- 
moved as  though  the  perfect  sun  of  God's  kingdom  were  shining 
about  them.  They  stand  unappalled  and  unashamed,  and  all  they 
ask  is  that  you  just  help  them  where  they  can't  help  themselves. 
That  they  are  willing  to  do  what  they  can  among  themselves  you 
have  had  evidence.  There  is  a  young  man  in  this  audience  who 
represents  his  father,  who  gave  $1,500  to  the  cause  and  stands 
ready  to  give  a  good  deal  more  ;  he  gave  $500  himself,  and  when 
he  goes  home  and  tells  them  what  he  did,  there  will  be  an  eager 
and  glad  response  from  others.  The  Chinese  are  going  to  help 
build  that  school.  If  they  are  heathen,  they  have  come  to  appre- 
ciate our  good  will  toward  them,  and  something  of  the  end  we 


THE   SITUATION    IN    CHINA.  391 

have  in  view.    They  have  become  entirely  friendly  to  our  oper-   WILSON- 
ations. 

I  picked  up  a  North  China  paper  a  day  or  two  before  I  left,  and 
it  contained  an  account  written  by  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  a 
new  departure  in  school  operations  at  Soochow.  A  young  China- 
man had  undertaken  to  open  a  primary  school  upon  the  basis  and 
with  the  idea  of  our  Western  educational  methods.  All  the  hum- 
bug and  obsolete  memorizing  process  of  the  Chinese  school  was 
laid  aside  and  a  rational  system  introduced.  The  curriculum  of  The  new  eda- 
the  school  was  given,  and  when  he  started  out  they  said :  "You 
can't  succeed ;  the  Chinese  can't  appreciate  a  thing  of  that  sort, 
and  the  children  won't  learn  under  that  system."  He  said  he 
would  try  it  anyhow.  The  school  was  crowded  inside  of  a  year, 
and  children  learned  more  rapidly  than  they  had  ever  learned  un- 
der the  old  system.  The  parents  saw  this,  and  were  taken  with  it, 
and  since  that  time  he  has  opened  five  schools  of  the  same  sort, 
and  radically  reversed  the  whole  system  of  Chinese  education  in 
that  community.  He  himself  is  a  teacher  in  our  school  at  Soo- 
chow, and  will  be  one  of  the  teachers  in  the  college  when  we  buiid 
it.  The  way  is  open  for  us,  and  they  are  asking  for  what  we  pro- 
pose to  give  them. 

That  is  how  the  situation  stands.  I  told  you  the  other  night 
that  Soochow  was  a  great  city  and  a  wealthy  city.  I  had  to  say  a 
good  deal  in  a  very  short  time.  It  is  a  wealthy  city  of  ancient  re- 
pute. It  has  ancient  traditions  behind  it  and  ancient  memo- 
ries, it  was  once  as  packed  and  as  crowded  as  any  part  of  this 
city  of  yours  ;  but  in  the  Taiping  Rebellion  the  armies  came  in 
and  swept  it  until  one-half  the  surface  was  laid  waste  and  inside 
the  walls  are  great  blank  spaces  ;  and  if  you  will  dig  down,  you  will 
come  across  the  stones  and  the  bricks  of  the  old  habitations  that  Soochow. 
used  to  be  there.  There  is  no  soil  there.  And  still  there  are 
half  a  million  of  people  there,  and  they  still  retain  their  pride  and 
culture  and  wealth,  and  they  glory  in  the  position  they  sustain  in 
relation  to  all  the  rest  of  China.  They  pride  themselves  as  being 
of  the  highest  caste  and  the  most  exclusive  set  in  the  empire;  and 
these  are  the  people  who,  of  their  own  accord,  have  come  to  help 
in  the  establishment  and  extension  of  the  work  that  we  have  un- 
dertaken among  them.  They  are  even  asking  us  to  make  haste. 

And  there  is  another  thing  that  I  wish  to  say  here,  though  it  is 
not  directlv  in  mv  line.     I  can't  leave  it  out.  because  nobodv  else 


392 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


An  effectual 
door  for  the 
women. 


has  said  it,  although  there  was  a  reference  to  it  by  Dr.  Allen.  It 
is  to  you  women  of  the  Church.  What  do  you  mean  by  your  de- 
lay? You  said  a  year  ago  that  you  were  going  to  raise  a  Twenti- 
eth Century  Offering  to  build  the  Laura  Haygood  Memorial  at 
Soochow,  but  I  understand  that  the  Twentieth  Century  Offering 
has  not  amounted  to  $40,000  altogether.  What  is  the  matter 
with  you?  I  thought  that  the  women  in  our  Church  had  some 
zeal  and  energy  and  devotion ;  but  if  you  are  only  going  to  stick 
to  this  routine  business  of  ten  cents  a  month  collected  from  your 
organizations,  and  when  an  appeal  is  made  to  you  like  this  you 
have  no  response  for  us,  then  I  am  astonished.  I  am  surprised, 
and  I  can  only  say  :  "Heaven  help  you !"  You  won't  be  worth  as 
much  as  Eve  was  when  she  offered  the  apple.  She  could  stir  her 
husband,  but  you  will  lose  the  power  to  do  that.  I  have  said 
before  that  that  school  must  be  built ;  and  if  you  don't  do  it,  we 
will.  Dr.  Allen  is  absolutely  right  in  the  position  he  takes  in  re- 
gard to  the  women  of  China.  He  is  absolutely  right  when  he 
says  that  that  school  must  be  developed.  And  he  is  more  right 
than  he  thinks.  I  witnessed  wrhat  he  did  not :  the  appeal  of  the 
Chinese  parents  to  our  educators  in  Soochow  to  do  the  same 
thing  for  their  daughters  which  they  were  trying  to  do  for  their 
sons.  They  want  it,  and  that  itself  is  a  revolution  in  China.  It 
breaks  down  the  old  Chinese  prejudice.  They  didn't  care  for  the 
girls.  What  did  they  amount  to?  they  have  no  souls.  I  remem- 
ber when  Miss  Rankin  went  to  Nantsiang  they  sneered  at  the  idea 
of  a  woman  teaching  anybody,  and  especially  girls,  but  they  got 
over  that ;  and  now  they  understand  that  when  the  American 
woman,  with  her  hand  in  the  hand  of  the  Son  of  God,  comes  into 
a  Chinese  community  she  means  business  of  the  highest  sort. 
They  have  learned  that,  and  to-day  they  earnestly  seek  for  the 
very  thing  that  a  score  of  years  ago  they  would  have  repudiated. 

0  ye  women  of  Southern  Methodism,  bring  your  money,  bring 
your  alabaster  box  of  ointment  and  break  it  here.     Let  the  per- 
fume of  it  go  throughout  the  Church,  to  move  the  heart  of  all 
womanhood  in  our  Southland  until  they  shall  gladly  come  and 
minister  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  the  person  of  those  whom  he 
wants  to  save,  the  women  and  the  girls  of  China.     Make  haste 
about  it ;  we  want  it  nowr. 

1  wish  I  had  brought  here  a  plan  of  the  building  wre  propose  to 
put  up  in  Soochow  to  let  you  see  on  what  a  scale  we  do  it.     We 


THE   SITUATION    IN    CHINA.  393 

want  to  get  the  Chinese  impressed  and  make  them  understand  WILS 
that  we  are  going  to  do  just  as  well  for  them  as  we  would  do  for 
our  young  men  at  home.  It  would  be  a  mean  thing  to  do  less.  The 
Christianity  never  does  anything  but  offer  its  very  best,  every-  at  Soochow. 
where  and  always.  It  never  lowers  its  standard.  The  very  best 
thing  that  God  has  to  give  he  has  offered,  not  to  you  and  me  only, 
but  to  all  the  world ;  and  he  holds  us  bound  to  do  the  same  thing 
when  we  come  to  our  operations  in  his  name  and  behalf.  So  we 
propose  to  put  up  a  building  there  that  will  represent  fairly  the 
estimate  we  have  of  the  value  of  this  work,  and  which  will  afford 
room  and  facilities  for  the  process  of  education  that  we  intend  to 

carry  through.     We  intend  to  give  them  men — I  mean  men ;  1   , 

J  °  '        Buildings  use- 

don't  mean  figures  of  men,  pretenders ;  I  mean  men — we  intend   less  without 
to  give  them  men  to  do  the  work ;  for  after  all,  Gen.  Garfield's   men> 
notion  of  education  is  about  right  when  he  said  it  was  represent- 
ed by  a  slab  board  with  a  pupil  on  one  end  and  Mark  Hopkins  at 
the  other. 

The  buildings  are  of  no  account  without  the  men.  I  remember 
when  a  certain  dignitary  of  our  Church,  an  admirable  man  whom 
I  hold  in  highest  esteem,  was  looking  through  Heidelberg  for  the 
great  buildings  of  the  university,  he  made  inquiry  of  a  certain  gen- 
tleman :  "Where  is  your  university?"  He  seemed  not  to  under- 
stand at  first,  but  by  and  by  he  got  hold  of  the  idea.  ''O,"  he  said, 
"our  university  is  here,"  tapping  his  head.  That's  all  the  an- 
swer he  gave. 

We  want  men,  and  we  have  got  to  have  all  the  appliances  and 
agencies  that  are  requisite  to  let  these  people  know  just  what 
Christianity  does,  is  doing,  and  has  done.  It  is  not  only  true  that 
the  coal  and  iron  of  the  earth  belong  to  the  Protestant  Church  ; 
but  all  the  great  advance  in  art,  in  science,  in  literature,  in  me- 
chanics, and  in  everything  else  is  due  to  Protestantism.  It  has 
stirred  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  world.  There  is  a  point  beyond 
which  the  nations  somehow  seem  to  be  unable  to  go,  until  they 
get  the  freedom  that  Christ  gives.  China  invented  printing,  but 
never  had  anything  in  the  way  of  a  newspaper,  except  the  Peking  china's  ar- 
Gazettc,  until  the  Christian  powers  came  in  and  taught  them  how  rest«d  deyei- 
to  run  it.  The  Chinese  invented  gunpowder,  and  the  whole  ex- 
pression of  its  might  \vas  in  firecrackers  until  the  Christian  na- 
tions came  in  with  their  firearms.  China  has  gold  enough  in  her 
bowels  to  supply  the  world,  but  she  is  just  tapping-  the  surface 


394  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

here  and  there,  simply  enough  to  supply  a  few  ships.  Some  of 
these  days  some  of  our  great  Americans  will  dig  into  the  earth 
and  reveal  its  riches.  China  has  gold  and  silver,  and  everything 
else  that  a  nation  needs,  but  there  is  nobody  there  to  get  hold  of 
it.  She  has  gone  to  a  certain  level  beyond  which  she  has  never 
been  able  to  rise.  Touch  her  with  the  life-giving  power  of  the 
Son  of  God,  and  you  will  see  such  a  nation  with  such  resources 
as  this  world  has  never  yet  beheld.  The  Roman  Empire  will  be  a 
small  thing  to  it. 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   SIEGE   OF   PEKING.* 

REV.    FRANK    D.  GAMEWELL,  PH.D. 

I  AM  to  speak  of  the  siege  in  Peking,  and  I  wish,  above  all 
things,  to  emphasize  the  providence  of  God.  I  cannot  speak  on 
this  subject  without  putting  special  emphasis  upon  our  provi- 
dential deliverance.  I  realize  that  I  stand  in  the  presence  of 
those  whose  prayers  followed  us  all  last  summer,  and  I  wish  to 
say  that  those  prayers  \vere  not  only  instrumental  in  our  final  de- 
liverance, but  that  in  some  strange  way  their  influence  reached 
around  the  world  and  strengthened  our  hearts  during  all  the 
stress  and  strain  of  those  days  and  weeks. 

In  the  first  place  I  would  call  your  attention  to  the  providen- 
tial warnings  of  impending  trouble.  The  so-called  Boxer  move- 
ment may  be  traced  to  the  autumn  of  1898,  when  the  Empress 
Dowager  practically  deposed  the  Emperor.  Through  the  fol- 
lowing year  there  were  frequent  signs  of  trouble  in  the  Province 
of  Shantung,  more  particularly  at  the  London  Mission  Station 
at  Heng-Shui  and  at  the  American  Board  Mission  Station  at 
Pang-Chia-Chuang,  where  Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  author  of  the 
well-known  "Chinese  Characteristics,"  is  stationed.  The  trou- 
ble still  spread  northward,  and  first  made  itself  felt  in  Peking 
about  the  beginning  of  May.  In  our  afternoon  Sunday  school 
there  was  a  large  increase  in  the  attendance  of  men,  and  we  were 
informed  that  of  those  present  many  were  connected  with  the 
Boxers.  Rumors  had  reached  us  of  trouble  at  Pa-Chou,  forty 
miles  from  Peking,  and  near  this  point  three  preachers  con- 


THE    SIEGE    OF    PEKING. 


395 


GAMEWELL. 


im  outbreak 
Against  raii- 


nected  with  the  London  Mission  were  killed,  their  bodies  being 
hacked  to  pieces  and  thrown  into  the  river.  Repeated  repre- 
sentations of  these  troubles  were  made  to  the  foreign  Ministers 
in  Peking,  and  these  in  turn  represented  the  trouble  to  the  Chi- 
nese officials,  who  in  turn  assured  the  Ministers  that  there  was 
nothing  to  be  feared.  The  Ministers  hesitated  to  bring  foreign 
troops  into  Peking,  knowing  that  their  presence  in  the  capital 
would  cause  irritation. 

On  the  morning  of  May  28  the  station  at  Fengtai  was  de- 
stroyed ;  also  the  adjoining  buildings  connected  with  the  rail- 
road. The  imperial  troops  had  been  placed  there  to  protect  the 
station  and  everything  connected  with  it.  It  was  really  the  Chi- 
nese government  destroying  its  own  property.  Our  communi- 
cation with  the  outside  world  was  then  cut  off.  It  was  restored 
temporarily  on  the  following  day,  and  an  emergency  call  was 
sent  to  Tien-tsin  for  the  troops  of  various  nationalities,  who  were 
at  once  hurried  to  Peking.  The  American  troops  came  so  rap- 
idly that  they  did  not  provide  a  change  of  clothing,  and  during 
the  first  days  of  the  siege  our  American  ladies  were  engaged 
in  making  clothing  for  them  from  Chinese  material. 

In  some  respects  the  strain  during  May  was  heavier  than  that 
of  the  days  that  followed.  The  suspense  of  those  weeks  of  an- 
ticipation was  wearing  in  the  extreme.  One  messenger  would 
come  in  and  tell  his  tale  of  pillage,  arson,  and  murder,  and  be- 
fore he  had  finished  his  tale  of  woe  another  would  arrive,  and 
it  reminded  one  of  the  book  of  Job.  One  day  an  old  man  came 
in  from  a  point  fifty  miles  south  of  Peking,  and  told  us  his  home  sufferings  of 
had  been  destroyed  and  his  family  had  been  killed.  He  was  tldai. 
hardly  through  his  story  when  another  came  in  with  his  tale  of 
wroe.  All  through  the  month  of  May  these  rumors,  founded  on 
actual  occurrences,  increased,  and  we  heard  that  the  Boxers 
were  drilling  in  the  temples  which  surrounded  us.  The  Bud- 
dhist temples  were  the  headquarters  of  the  movement.  Then  we 
heard  that  they  were  drilling  in  the  palace  of  Prince  Tuan,  and 
finally  in  the  imperial  palace  itself.  Rumors  continued  to  reach 
us,  and  our  anxiety  increased.  We  considered  what  we  could 
do,  but  there  was  really  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  steadily  on  with 
our  work,  carry  to  our  representatives  the  reports  that  came, 
and  await  developments. 

WTe  finished  our  educational  work  on  May  29,  and  held  the 
closing  exercises  in  connection  with  Peking  University.  The 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GAMEWKLL. 


Girls'  High  School  fortunately  had  planned  to  continue  a  week 
or  two  longer.  North  China  Conference  of  our  Church  was  ap- 
pointed to  convene  on  May  31.  We  had  our  session,  though 
without  a  bishop,  as  it  was  the  month  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence,  and  on  Monday,  June  4,  the  appointments  were  read.  Dur- 
of  communica-  ing  all  these  days  we  had  been  perplexed  as  to  the  right  course 
to  pursue.  Some  thought  it  would  be  best  to  congregate  in 
Peking.  We  knew  that  Peking  was  either  the  safest  or  the 
most  dangerous  place  in  the  empire ;  and  if  anything  happened 
to  the  government,  we  realized  that  it  would  be  the  most  dan- 
gerous place.  We  told  the  native  preachers  that  we  could  not 
advise  them ;  it  might  be  better  to  scatter  or  it  might  be  better 
to  remain  in  Peking.  A  number  of  them  left  on  the  train  early 
Monday  morning,  and  that  train  on  Monday  morning  was  the 
last  that  left  Peking.  Communication  with  Tien-tsin  was  finally 
cut  off  that  day,  June  4.  The  marine  guards  had  reached  Peking 
just  four  days  before.  Had  there  not  been  the  warning  of  the 
first  temporary  interruption  of  communication,  and  had  not 
those  four  hundred  and  fifty  men  reached  Peking,  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  among  the  foreigners  would  have  been  mas- 
sacred. For  twelve  days  preceding  June  20,  when  the  actual 
siege  began,  we  were  in  a  sort  of  semisiege. 

This  was  in  the  Methodist  Mission,  which  had  been  selected, 
as  it  was  nearer  the  Legislature  than  any  other  mission,  and  also 
because  of  its  more  ample  accommodations  in  the  way  of  build- 
ings. The  experiences  of  these  days  of  semisiege  stood  us  in 
good  stead  for  the  more  serious  experiences  we  were  to  meet 
later  on  in  the  British  Legation,  when  there  was  to  be  added 
difficulty  of  doing  under  fire  whatever  we  did. 

Various  committees  were  organized  for  our  protection — com- 
mittees on  fortification,  food  supply,  fuel  supply,  and  a  fire  pa- 
trol. A  fire  patrol  was  necessary,  for  we  had  to  contend  against 
the  burning  of  our  property.  The  streets  leading  to  the  mission 

Semisiege  in      prOpertv  were  barricaded.    The  church  windows  were  taken  out 

the  Methodist     r      l 

mission.  and    the    windows    bricked    up,    being   loopholed    for   rifle    fire. 

Various  walls  were  heightened.  The  girls  of  the  high  school, 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  in  number,  were  gathered  together 
in  the  church  as  night  came  on,  water  was  boiled  and  stored  in 
earthenware  vessels,  and  a  supply  of  rice  was  provided,  and  other 
arrangements  made  for  a  siege.  Within  the  church  we  felt  that 
we  could  hold  out  against  the  Boxers,  but  not  against  the  im- 


THE   SIEGE   OF   PEKING.  397 

perial  troops.  The  church  was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  city  wall,  and  so  we  knew  the  position  would  be  unsafe 
if  we  were  attacked  by  the  troops.  We  had  at  last  to  give  up 
our  position.  We  lost  all  our  property,  but  we  had  held  out  a  week 
longer  than  any  other  mission  in  the  city,  and  it  was  a  decided 
advantage  to  prevent  the  earlier  crowding  into  the  close  quar- 
ters of  the  British  Legation,  and  to  have  acquired  the  experience 
of  these  days  of  the  semisiege.  We  were  in  constant  commu- 
nication with  Maj.  Conger,  the  United  States  Minister,  who,  in 
connection  with  the  Ministers  of  the  various  nations,  was  doing 
his  utmost  to  press  the  Tsung-li-Yamen  to  take  active  measures 
against  the  Boxers.  On  Tuesday,  June  19,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Maj.  Conger  saying  that  the  foreign  office  had  sent  him  a 
dispatch  stating  that  all  foreigners  must  leave  Peking  within 
twenty- four  hours.  To  leave  meant  two  days  of  hard  traveling 
by  cart  over  rough  roads  and  through  a  hostile  country.  There 
were  over  fifty  women  and  children,  and  the  thermometer  was 
ranging  from  80  to  100  degrees  Fahrenheit.  The  Ministers  rep- 
resented that  they  could  not  take  the  journey,  and  that  they  must 
have  adequate  protection  in  Peking.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing (June  20)  Mr.  Cordes,  the  Secretary  and  interpreter  of  the 
German  Legation,  was  brought,  seriously  wounded  and  in  an  al- 
most fainting  condition,  into  my  house  at  about  nine  o'clock. 
From  him  we  learned  that  he  had  started  with  Baron  Von  Ket- 
teler,  the  German  Minister,  to  visit  the  foreign  office,  and  that  German  Min- 
vvhen  they  reached  Honorary  Archway,  on  Hata  Street,  a  white-  ister. 
buttoned  mandarin,  with  a  peacock  feather  in  his  hat,  rode  up 
to  the  chair  of  Baron  Von  Ketteler  and  fired,  killing  him  in- 
stantly. Air.  Cordes  was  also  fired  upon  and  seriously  wounded, 
but  escaped  and  finally  reached  the  Methodist  Mission.  \Ve 
then  knew  that  the  imperial  troops  had  opened  fire.  I  hold  in 
my  hand  a  copy  of  the  New  York  Sun  of  June  17,  which  contains 
a  cablegram  sent  as  a  special  from  Hongkong,  under  date  of 
Saturday,  June  16,  at  4:30  P.M.,  which  cablegram  contains  the 
announcement  of  the  murder  of  Baron  Von  Ketteler.  I  leave 
you  to  your  own  explanation  as  to  how  this  event  could  have 
been  anticipated  in  the  New  York  papers  four  days  before  its 
actual  occurrence. 

It  had  been  our  plan,  in  connection  with  the  preparation  made 
for  holding  the  Methodist  Mission,  that  in  case  of  attack  by  the 
government  troops  our  position  should  be  abandoned,  as  its 


398 


THE    SIEGE    OF    PEKING. 


GAME  WELL. 


Concentration 
in  British  Le- 
gation. 


The  line  of 
march. 


Native 

verts. 


proximity  to  the  city  wall  made  it  untenable,  and  we  were  to 
gather  at  the  British  Legation  for  our  final  stand.  Shortly  after 
the  murder  of  Baron  Von  Ketteler,  Maj.  Conger  sent  word  to  us 
that  we  must  abandon  our  place  at  once.  I  am  sure  you  will  be 
glad  to  hear  that  previous  to  this  we  had  taken  the  precaution 
to  carry  all  the  deeds  of  our  mission  property  to  the  United 
States  Legation,  and  in  this  way  all  our  deeds  have  been  saved. 

I  want  to  say  a  word  about  the  remarkable  fortitude  of  the 
Chinese  men  and  women,  and  particularly  of  the  schoolgirls. 
It  was  a  pathetic  sight  to  see  the  way  the  girls  met  the  alarms. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  seventeen  of  these  schoolgirls. 
Several  false  alarms  had  been  given,  and  they  had  been  hurried 
into  the  church,  but  it  was  noticeable  that  these  Chinese  girls 
were  never  stampeded ;  they  marched  as  quietly  under  these 
most  trying  conditions  as  they  did  to  an  ordinary  Sabbath  serv- 
ice. We  had  just  an  hour's  notice,  and  the  procession  that 
formed  on  that  hot  June  morning  out  in  the  Filial  Piety  Alley 
would  have  impressed  you.  First,  there  were  fifty  odd  foreign 
women  and  children,  guarded  by  the  United  States  marines. 
Following  these  were  one  hundred  and  seventeen  schoolgirls, 
accompanied  by  their  ever-faithful  teachers.  These,  in  turn, 
were  followed  by  the  Chinese  converts,  women  and  children. 
Then  there  were  some  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  men  and 
boys,  native  Christians,  laden  down  with  whatever  they  could 
carry.  And  finally  the  German  marines  carrying  on  a  stretcher 
the  wounded  interpreter,  Mr.  Cordes.  Stretched  along  the  line 
were  some  twenty  odd  foreign  missionaries.  When  the  proces- 
sion started  out,  the  streets  were  lined  with  crowds  of  Chinese. 

We  wondered  during  the  semisiege  what  to  do  with  our  native 
converts.  We  felt  that  if  they  were  shut  up  in  the  church  dis- 
ease would  destroy  them,  so  great  was  the  crowd.  And  again 
we  knew  that  if  compelled  to  abandon  our  mission  property 
there  would  not  be  room  for  them  within  the  Legations.  But 
God  solved  the  problem  for  us.  Prof.  James  and  Dr.  Morrison, 
on  the  morning  of  June  20,  had  gone  to  Prince  Su  and  obtained 
permission  from  him  for  the  Chinese  converts  to  occupy  a  part 
of  his  palace  building.  It  was  remarkable  that  he  should  con- 
sent, but  probably  he  thought  in  so  doing  his  property  would  be 
protected. 

The  procession  passed  slowly  westward  through  Filial  Piety 
Lane,  then  southward  along  the  great  Hata  Street,  first  to  the 


THE    SIEGE    OF    PEKING. 


399 


GAMEWELL, 


American  Legation  and  then  retracing  our  steps  a  short  distance 
eastward,  and  turning  abruptly  northward  along  the  canal,  we 
entered  the  British  Legation. 

We  had  heard  from  Capt.  McCalla,  only  twenty-eight  miles 
away,  and  had  daily  expected  the  relief  column.  We  went  into 
the  Legation  expecting  at  most  to  be  there  only  a  few  days.  How 

well  it  was  that  on  that  Wednesday  afternoon  of  June  20  we 

The  first  re- 

could  not  know  all  the  days  and  weeks  that  must  pass  before  net  column. 
the  relief  column  should  finally  reach  us  on  August  14!  We 
reached  the  British  Legation  about  two  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
afternoon,  June  20.  I  need  hardly  tell  you  that  there  was  in- 
describable confusion.  The  Ministers  of  eleven  nations  and  cit- 
izens and  subjects  of  seventeen  nationalities  were  crowded  into 
the  British  Legation,  with  only  an  hour's  warning.  Wre  began  to 
organize,  and  it  was  here  that  the  organization  formed  at  the 
Methodist  Mission  in  the  days  of  the  semisiege  stood  us  in 
good  stead.  We  had  committees  on  fortifications,  food,  fuel, 
water  supply,  and  a  fire  patrol. 

Again  I  would  call  your  attention  to  God's  protecting  care. 
In  the  march  we  were  practically  defenseless ;  and  if  the  Chinese 
had  got  in  position  and  opened  fire  upon  us  from  the  roofs  of 
their  houses,  or  from  the  city  wall,  our  line  would  have  been  cut 
to  pieces.  As  it  was,  that  long  line  of  between  six  hundred  and 
seven  hundred  souls  reached  the  Birtish  Legation  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  life. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  went  with  one  of  the 
ladies  connected  with  the  Girls'  High  School  to  Prince  Su's 
palace  to  help  her  in  the  arrangements  necessary  for  locating 
the  girls.  There  I  met  Prof.  James,  of  the  Imperial  University. 
It  was  he  who,  with  Dr.  Morrison,  secured  the  right  from  Prince 
Su  to  occupy  the  southern  portion  of  the  palace.  I  said  to  Prof. 
James  that  I  was  afraid  the  government  was  in  league  with  the 
Boxers  ;  but  he  said  in  reply  he  had  assurance  from  Prince  Su 
that  the  Chinese  troops  would  not  fire  upon  the  foreigners. 
Shortly  afterwards,  Prof.  James,  when  attempting  to  return  to 
the  British  Legation  by  the  way  of  the  North  Bridge,  was  fired 
upon  by  government  troops  and  killed. 

On  the  first  night  of  the  siege  I  was  asked  to  stand  guard  at 
one  of  the  windows  of  the  students'  quarters  in  the  British  Lega- 
tion, and  consented.  The  Chinese  were  firing  at  us  from  the 
southern  walls  of  Hanlin  Academy,  onlv  a  few  vards  awav.  and 


The  imperial 

troops 

firing. 


400 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GAMKWELL. 


Fortifying. 


Faithfulness 
of  Chinese 
Christians. 


as  two  of  us  were  standing  guard  at  the  window  we  afforded  an 
excellent  target,  and  I  felt  that  I  should  like  the  window  filled 
up  with  something.  As  regards  the  matter  of  fortifications  we 
simply  went  on  the  common  sense  basis  that,  if  a  man  is  firing 
at  you  and  intends  to  keep  on  firing  at  you,  and  has  facilities  to 
continue  firing,  and  you  are  not  able  to  dislodge  him,  the  sooner 
you  get  something  between  you  and  him  the  better,  and  up  to 
a  certain  extent  the  more  you  get  between  you  and  him  the 
better. 

I  would  emphasize  the  fact  that  without  the  Chinese  converts 
we  could  not  have  held  our  position.  Maj.  Conger  recognized 
this  fact  in  a  letter  to  the  missionaries  at  the  close  of  the  siege, 
in  which  he  says  that  "without  your  intelligent  and  successful 
planning  and  the  uncomplaining  execution  of  the  Chinese,  I  be- 
lieve our  salvation  would  have  been  impossible."  Let  it  clearly 
be  understood  that  our  Chinese  were  faithful.  They  stood  by 
us.  Again  and  again  I  asked  men  in  this  work  of  fortification 
to  go  to  most  difficult  posts,  and  they  went. 

While  we  were  still  in  the  Methodist  mission  a  little,  begrimed 
Chinese  boy,  emaciated  with  disease,  one  day  followed  Dr.  Ament, 
who  had  ventured  out,  back  to  the  gate,  and  begged  to  come  in. 
With  some  difficulty  he  was  recognized  as  a  poor  apprentice  who 
had  once  or  twice  come  to  the  Congregationalist  Sunday  school. 
He  had  been  driven  out  by  his  master,  who  feared  to  have  one 
around  him  who  had  even  so  much  as  touched  the  foreigners. 
We  took  him  in,  and  later  he  went  with  us  to  the  British  Legation. 
During  the  siege,  after  we  were  in  despair  of  getting  a  letter  to 
Tien-tsin,  as  many  messengers  had  been  lost,  this  boy,  Liu  Wu 
Yuan,  volunteered  to  go.  When  some  one  remarked,  "Why. 
you  are  half  dead  now,"  he  replied,  "All  right;  so  much  less  of 
me  to  get  killed."  The  note,  wrapped  in  oiled  paper,  was  put  at 
the  bottom  of  a  bowl  of  porridge,  and  he  was  let  down  over  the 
wall  by  night.  Sleeping  in  cornfields  by  day,  traveling  by  night. 
hiding  in  ruined  villages  and  muddy  ditches,  certain  to  be  torn  in 
pieces  if  discovered  by  the  enemy,  he  gradually  made  his  wax- 
over  the  eighty  miles  to  Tien-tsin,  where  he  delivered  the  only 
message  that  went  out  from  the  prisoners  to  the  world  during  the 
siege.  More  than  that,  he  received  a  reply,  and,  returning  as  he 
had  gone  out,  succeeded  in  entering  the  city  of  Peking,  making 
his  way  to  the  Legation  and  delivering  his  message.  I  think  you 


THE    SIEGE    OF    PEKING.  401 


GAMEWELL. 


will  agree  that  this  errand  required  not  only  courage  and  endur- 
ance but  intelligence  and  resourcefulness  of  a  high  order. 

These  Mauser  bullets  I  hold  in  my  hand  were  captured  after 
the  siege.  We  thought  the  Chinese  had  exhausted  their  supply 
after  firing  on  us  for  fifty-six  days,  but  we  found  large  boxes  of 
them  unopened ;  we  also  found  rifles  and  both  rapid-firing  and 
Krupp  guns  unused.  These  bullets  we  found  penetrated  only 
about  a  quarter  or  half  an  inch  into  the  bricks.  We  also  found 
out  the  force  of  the  Krupp  shells  by  watching  their  effects. 
When  the  shells  struck  an  eighteen-inch  wall  they  went  through 
that,  and  again  went  on  through  another  eighteen-inch  wall,  and 
then  exploded  in  the  air.  The  shells  that  they  fired  were  not 
percussion  shells,  but  time  shells,  and  in  many  cases  they  were 
ill-timed  and  went  over  us,  exploding  in  the  air. 

In  protecting  life  we  made  extensive  use  of  sand  bags.  The 
Legation  furnishings  were  torn  down,  and  carpets  torn  up.  Silks 
and  satins  and  costly  curtains  were  used  for  making  sand  bags. 
When  we  first  entered  the  Legation  I  found  it  necessary  to  urge 
the  men  to  protect  themselves  with  sand  bags.  I  told  them  that  studies  in 
sand  bags  were  cheaper  than  human  life.  On  the  second  day  balllstlcs- 
of  the  siege  something  occurred  that  made  them  all  want  the 
bags.  One  of  the  British  marines  exposed  himself  to  the  enemy, 
and  was  instantly  killed,  being  struck  in  the  head  by  a  Mauser 
bullet.  This  startled  the  men,  and  after  that  the  demand  for 
sand  bags  was  more  than  we  could  supply.  We  kept  on  making 
them  right  up  to  the  day  when  the  allied  forces  reached  Peking. 
In  addition  to  the  protection  of  sand  bags  we  had  to  fortify  our- 
selves against  artillery  fire.  As  the  shells  used  would  go  through 
about  forty-eight  inches  of  masonry,  we  calculated  that  about 
seven  feet  of  wall  and  earth  would  give  ample  protection.  A 
sergeant  told  me  that  in  one  wall  that  protected  us  nine  shells 
struck  within  a  comparatively  small  area,  but  none  of  them  had 
penetrated  it.  We  continued  this  work  of  fortification  until  we 
had  on  the  north  a  triple  line  of  defense,  first  for  artillery  fire, 
within  which  were  countermining  defenses  from  twelve  to  four- 
teen feet  deep.  Back  of  this  some  fifteen  yards  was  a  second  line 
of  defense  well  loopholed  for  rifle  fire.  Back  of  this  again 
a  third  line  of  defense.  To  the  west  there  was  also  a  double  line 
of  defense.  But  notwithstanding  that  our  position  became  daily 
stronger,  if  the  Chinese  had  been  willing  to  pay  the  inevitable 


402 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


GAMEWELL. 


Why  the 

Chinese  did 
not  storm  the 
Legation. 


Ganger  from 
turning  build- 
ings. 


price  of  life,  they  could  certainly  have  taken  our  position,  and 
by  force  of  mere  numbers  have  overwhelmed  us. 

I  feel  that  in  some  way  God  inspired  their  hearts  with  fear ; 
and  if  asked  why  they  did  not  overwhelm  us,  I  would  answer: 
God  would  not  let  them.  During  the  siege  they  threw  into  the 
British  Legation  twenty-eight  hundred  shells.  Maj.  Scott,  of  the 
Royal  Engineers,  when  going  over  the  fortifications  with  me 
after  the  siege,  and  witnessing  the  terrific  work  of  shot  and  shell, 
said  to  me  that  it  was  a  marvel  that  a  man  survived  to  tell  the 
tale,  and  then,  looking  at  me  more  directly,  he  said :  "The  rea- 
son is  in  prayer.  Probably  there  never  has  been  a  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  when  such  a  volume  of  prayer  has  ascended 
to  God  for  any  one  as  has  ascended  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
for  you  who  have  been  besieged  in  Peking."  And  I  believe  that 
God  answered  the  prayers  not  only  in  strengthening  our  hearts 
but  in  restraining  the  Chinese.  Again  and  again  the  only  answer 
I  can  give  why  they  did  not  overwhelm  us  is  that  God  would  not 
let  them.  I  give  that  as  the  final  explanation. 

Now  as  regards  some  of  the  clangers.  There  was,  of  course, 
in  the  first  place,  the  danger  from  shot  and  shell.  Had  the  con- 
struction in  Peking  been  of  wood,  the  Mauser  bullets  would 
have  penetrated  the  walls,  and  we  should  have  been  cut  to  pieces 
within  the  first  twenty-four  hours ;  but  in  Peking  the  houses  are 
of  brick.  The  seven  acres  of  space  in  the  British  Legation  are 
surrounded  by  high  brick  walls.  Of  course  our  first  duty  was  to 
reenforce  and  fortify  the  weakest  points,  such  as  the  gateways 
and  the  exposed  parts  of  the  higher  buildings ;  and  then,  as  time 
allowed,  to  fortify  ourselves  against  artillery  fire  and  to  extend 
a  line  of  countermines. 

Again  there  was  great  and  constant  danger  from  incendiary 
fires,  and  the  Chinese  sought  to  destroy  us  by  setting  fire  to  the 
highly  inflammable  buildings  which  surrounded  the  British  Lega- 
tion. Failing  in  their  efforts  to  burn  us  out  by  destroying  prop- 
erty to  the  west,  they  afterwards  fired  the  Hanlin  Academy,  with 
its.  from  a  Chinese  standpoint,  priceless  literary  treasures.  A 
strong  wind  was  blowing  from  the  north,  and  some  one  said, 
"If  the  Chinese  set  fire  to  the  Academy  to-day,  we  are  gone,''  and 
they  did  set  fire  to  it  that  day.  There  was  no  fire  department  in 
Peking,  and  we  had  to  depend  entirely  upon  wells,  had  only 
hand  fire  engines.  \Ye  formed  a  bucket  line  and  fought  it,  and 
the  wind,  which  was  blowing  from  the  north,  changed  to  the 


THE    SIEGE    OF    PEKING.  403 


GAMEWELL. 


west,  and  we  were  saved.  Then  again  there  was  danger  from 
disease.  Peking  is  very  unhealthy  under  the  best  conditions. 
We  were  under  heavy  strain  day  and  night  for  many  weeks.  We 
lived  on  horse  and  mule  flesh,  brown  bread,  and  brown  rice,  and 
yet  in  some  marvelous  way  God  preserved  our  health.  God  won- 
derfully preserved  the  lives  of  the  workers  in  China,  and  I  take 
it  as  an  earnest  that  the  work  there  is  not  done. 

The  gathering  of  the  North  China  Conference  brought  together 
our  own  preachers,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Congregational 
Mission  was  holding  its  Annual  Conference  at  Tingehou,  twelve 

.,  ,      .  ,     -reservation  of 

miles  away,  and  a  large  number  of  their  preachers  had  gathered   trained  work- 
together;  and  the  warnings  of  the  approaching  storm  caused   e:s 
many  of  the  helpers  and  preachers  to  come  in  from  the  country. 
In  this  way  the  lives  of  many  of  those  who  have  been  trained 
ior  the  work  of  evangelization  have  been  spared. 

Two  of  our  preachers  were  killed  during  the  siege.  One  of 
them,  Wang  Cheng  Pei,  you  will  remember  as  having  wheeled 
his  mother  to  Peking  on  a  wheelbarrow  nearly  thirty  years  ago 
that  she  might  learn  to  read  the  Bible.  He  was  ordained  by 
Bishop  Goodsell  many  years  ago.  During  one  of  the  attacks 
at  Fu  he  was  called  upon  to  lead  in  repelling  the  enemy,  and  was 
mortally  wounded.  I  went  up  to  him  where  he  lay  dying,  knelt, 
and  asked  him  if  it  was  all  right,  and  he  said :  "Yes,  pray  for  me ; 
but  it  is  all  right."  Those  who  were  with  him  at  the  last  said 
that  he  died  in  perfect  peace,  knowing  whom  he  believed.  The 
•other  was  Liu  Chi  Hsien,  a  graduate  of  Peking  University.  He 
was  struck  in  the  head  by  a  Mauser  bullet  and  instantly  killed. 
They  were  both  faithful  to  the  end.  With  these  exceptions,  all 
helpers  with  us  in  the  siege  were  spared  to  the  work.  One  of  Two  Il3roes- 
our  best  men,  Liu  Chi  Lun,  was  reported  to  have  been  killed  at 
Tsunhua,  but  I  find  that  he  escaped.  I  have  always  taken  a  deep 
interest  in  him.  Some  eighteen  years  ago  he  was  one  of  my 
students  in  the  Peking  school.  When  dismissing  the  boys  for 
the  summer  vacation  I  urged  them  to  go  to  their  homes  with 
the  determination  to  be  helpful,  and  not  to  pose  as  scholars, 
which,  from  a  Chinese  standpoint,  means  that  they  must  do  no 
manual  labor,  but  wear  long  garments  and  let  their  finger  nails 
grow.  I  told  them  that  their  fathers  on  the  farms  were  working 
hard,  and  they  should  be  glad  to  help  them.  When  school  re- 
assembled in  the  fall  this  boy,  on  returning  to  school,  came  to 
me  and,  stretching  out  both  hands,  well  hardened  bv  his  sum- 


404  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


GAMEWELL. 


mer's  toil,  said  to  me :  "Mr.  Game  well,  look  at  my  hands.  I  went 
home  and  did  as  you  told  us  to  do."  That  little  incident  is  in- 
dicative of  the  man,  and  he  has  proved  a  most  useful  preacher. 
God  has  spared  the  workers  to  carry  on  the  work. 

It  was  marvelous  that  we  should  be  able  to  feed  3,500  people 
during  all  those  weeks ;  but  God  had  made  provision  for  our 
needs.     We  were  defending  an  area  of  the  city  the  circuit  of 
which  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half ;  within  this  area  there  were  a 
The  oommissa-  large  number  of  Chinese  and  foreign  stores ;  in  these  foreign 
ry-  stores  there  was  a  considerable  amount  of  food,  and  in  the  Chi- 

nese stores  a  large  supply  of  wheat,  and  it  was  owing  to  this 
that  we  were  enabled  to  feed  ourselves  during  those  weeks. 
In  the  British  Legation  there  were  forty  or  fifty  horses,  and 
many  who  crowded  into  the  Legation  on  the  first  day  of  the 
siege  came  in  carts  drawn  by  mules;  so  that  we  had  seventy  or 
eighty  horses  and  mules,  which  contributed  to  our  food  supply. 

The  allied  forces  came  in  on  August  14,  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  The  British  first  reached  the  British  Legation, 
but  they  were  not  the  English  troops  ;  they  were  the  Indian 
troops  led  by  British  officers.  I  cannot  describe  the  emotions 
that  crowded  upon  me  as  I  saw  them  press  their  way  through 
the  Water  Gate.  Twelve  hours  before  the  relief  column  reached 
us  we  heard  the  relief  guns,  and  it  was  not  until  then  that  I 
realized  the  terrible  strain  that  we  had  been  under.  During  all 
The  commg  of  these  weeks  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  truce. 

r 

We  understood  that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  hold  out.  To 
surrender  meant  the  death  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child ;  and 
I  do  not  know  but  that  a  good  deal  of  our  strength  lay  in  our 
knowledge  of  that  fact.  We  toiled  on  day  and  night  and  on 
through  the  Sabbath ;  we  felt  that  the  most  worshipful  thing  to 
do  was  to  keep  right  on  in  our  effort  to  protect  the  lives  of  the 
women  and  children  intrusted  to  us,  and  God  blessed  our  efforts. 
Xow  that  we  are  saved  we  come  back  to  life  with  a  feeling  of 
responsibility  for  a  work  not  yet  finished.  I  think  of  those  who 
started  out  in  the  morning  strong  and  vigorous,  and  before  night 
their  newly  formed  graves  were  in  our  midst ;  and  the  thought 
comes  to  me :  Why  was  I  saved:  Saved  for  service.  Oh,  thai 
God  would  impress  that  fact  upon  us  all,  that  in  our  salvation 
from  sin  and  our  salvation  from  death  we  are  saved  for  service  ! 

The  city  was  nearly  deserted  by  the  Chinese  after  the  close 
of  the  siege.  Between  the  Chien-Men  gate  and  the  Shun-Chih- 


THE   SIEGE   OF   PEKING.  405 


GAMEWKLL. 


Men  gate,  a  distance  of  one  mile,  are  a  large  number  of  official 
residences,  which  face  the  city  wall.    The  Chien-Men  gate  is  im- 
mediately in  front  of  a  line  passing  north  and  south  through  the 
center  of  the  Imperial  and  of  the  Forbidden  Cities.    West  from 
the  Chien-Men  we  found  two  large  official  residences,  which  for   Did  the 
the  time  being  we  appropriated  by  authority  of  the  United  States   eminent  favor 
Minister,  Maj.  Conger.    These  residences  may  be  easily  known   the  Boxers? 
from  the  fact  that  there  is  an  announcement  outside  of  each, 
stating  that  it  is  an  official  residence.     Entering  a  large  room 
and  approaching  a  table  in  the  corner,  on  opening  a  drawer  I 
found  a  pile  of  circulars,  and  beside  them  the  block  from  which 
they  were  printed.     Translated  they  read :  "By  Imperial  Com- 
mand.   Let  the  Boxers  of  [then  follow  the  names  of  eight  towns 
about  Peking]  rise  up  to  a  united  victory." 

Now  the  Boxer  motto  from  the  beginning  had  been,  "Protect 
the  Manchus ;  destroy  the  foreigners ;"  hence  this  was  an  im- 
perial command  to  annihilate  foreigners.  The  two  characters 
at  the  top  of  the  circular,  ch'n  ruing,  are  never  used  except  on 
imperial  documents.  The  circulars  are  on  yellow  (the  imperial 
color)  paper,  and  the  two  characters  at  the  top  are  not  printed 
from  the  block,  but  stamped  separately  in  red,  indicating  the 
"vermilion" — that  is,  imperial — "pencil." 

Again,  on  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  document  are  five 
characters,  which  are  also  separately  stamped,  not  being  on  the 
original  block.  These  five  characters  are :  "I  Ho  Tu'an  tu 
chang,"  meaning,  "The  seal  of  the  Boxers."  The  circulars  were 
issued  from  an  official  residence  within  the  shadow  of  the  palace 
buildings. 

It  seems  needless  to  multiply  further  the  ever-accumulating 
evidence  that  the  government,  as  represented  by  the  Empress 
Dowager  and  her  associates,  was  responsible  for  the  recent  up- 
rising in  China.  On  June  24  the  Board  of  Revenue  was  ordered 
to  give  Rang  Yi  two  hundred  bags  of  rice  as  provisions  for  gen- 
eral distribution  among  the  Boxers,  and  another  decree  of  the  c™^1™1  ' 
same  date,  June  24,  says  :  "Our  people  included  in  the  Boxer 
organization  are  scattered  all  over  the  regions  around  the  me- 
tropolis and  Tien-tsin.  It  is  right  and  proper  that  they  should 
have  a  superintendent  placed  over  them.  We  therefore  appoint 
Prince  Chuang  and  the  Grand  Secretary,  Kang  Yi,  to  be  in  gen- 
eral command  of  the  said  society.  We  also  order  Brigadier  Gen- 
erals Ying  Nien  and  Tsai  Lan  to  act  in  cooperation  with  them. 


406  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

GAMEWELL.  ^11  f^g  members  of  the  Boxers  are  exerting  their  utmost  energy, 
and  the  imperial  family  must  not  fall  behind  in  its  efforts  to  take 
revenge  upon  our  enemies." 

These  translations  are  from  copies  of  the  Peking  Gazette,  pur- 
chased during  the  siege  from  a  venturesome  Chinese,  and  the 
translation  of  the  Gazette,  by  a  competent  committee,  was  mime- 
ographed and  circulated  among  the  people  in  the  British  Lega- 
tion during  the  siege. 

In  his  recently  issued  book,  "The  Siege  in  Peking,"  Dr.  W. 
A.  P.  Martin,  President  of  the  Chinese  Imperial  University,  at 
some  length  discusses  and  shows  conclusively  the  complicity  of 
the  Chinese  government  in  the  recent  outbreak.  Arthur  H. 
Smith,  D.D.,  author  of  "Chinese  Characteristics"  and  of  "Vil- 
*n  C^ma/'  a  recognized  authority  in  all  things  Chinese, 


an  D 

says  in  the  Outlook  for  December  29,  1900,  after  commenting  on 

the  reception  given  by  the  Empress  Dowager  to  the  wives  of 
the  foreign  Ministers,  and  to  her  quoting  that  all  within  the  four 
seas  are  one  family,  says  :  "Five  months  later  her  majesty  was  is- 
suing edicts  which  ordered  her  troops,  in  large  numbers  and  con- 
stantly recruited  with  fresh  men,  to  throw  Krupp  shells  and  fire 
Mauser  and  Mannlicher  bullets  into  the  dwelling  places  of  these 
same  ladies  from  the  West,  with  a  view  to  their  speedy  extinc- 
tion, thus  leaving  only  the  Chinese  (and  Manchu)  contingent  of 
the  'one  family'  surviving." 

Again  this  same  high  authority,  in  the  Outlook  for  January  12, 
1901,  in  discussing  the  frequent  riots  in  China  and  tracing  their 
causes,  says  :  "This  is  the  first  time  that  the  riots  have  been 
directly  instigated  from  the  imperial  palace  itself.  Upon  the 
treatment  of  China  now  will  depend  whether  it  shall  be  the  last." 
We  touch  only  the  surface  of  things  when  we  apologize  for  the 
Chinese,  when  we  seek  to  explain  the  occurrences  of  last  sum- 
mer by  territorial  aggression  on  the  part  of  England,  Germany, 
or  Russia,  or  when  we  seek  to  trace  it  to  the  disturbance  of  the 
industrial  equilibrium  by  the  introduction  of  railways,  or  when 
The  true  source  we  seek  to  trace  it  to  the  indiscretion  of  any  individual  mission- 
of  tia  conflict,  ary.  These  things  may  act  as  surface  irritants,  but  the  reason 
of  reasons  is  the  opposition  of  darkness  to  the  light.  It  is  the 
conflict  of  Christianity  with  heathenism.  May  God  help  us  to 
realize  that  the  issue  is  on  !  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate 
outcome.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 


D 


-a"I!taV*<<i--^^/  '">  V-    '•   r 
I'JIm-r  _  Y^^-OX.  _  - ,  ,v ,,,;,.  V 


M     X  [CO 


SHOWING  MISSION  STATIONS  OF  THE 
M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 


IngravcJ  lCspccia!l>  1'or  the  Hoard  01  Missions 


//.  MEXICO  AND  CUBA. 


OUR  WESTERN  FIELDS— MEXICO  AND  CUBA. 

D.  W.  CARTER,  D.D. 

SOME  years  ago  a  humble  native  preacher  in  Mexico  said  to 
me :  "How  different  would  have  been  our  lot  in  language  and  re- 
ligion had  we  been  conquered  by  the  English  rather  than  by  the 
Spanish  nation !" 

The  problem  of  the  historic  "if"  is  usually  more  curious  than 
important,  but  in  this  case  it  suggests  the  whole  question  of  geo- 
graphic juxtaposition  of  races  and  the  providential  movements  of 
those  world-forces  which  fix  national  delimitations  and  destiny.  Spain's 

A  few  rods  from  the  shore  line  of  Havana  harbor,  and  in  front  shiP- 
of  the  Governor  General's  palace  stands  a  diminutive  chapel.  It 
marks  the  spot  where  Columbus  landed  and  under  a  spreading 
ceiba  tree  joined  in  the  first  religious  service  ever  held  on  the  site 
of  Hvana.  From  that  date  to  January  i,  1899  (a  period  of  407 
years),  Spain  owned  the  island  of  Cuba.  What  history  Iks  be- 
tween those  widely  separated  dates !  From  the  lofty  table-lands 
of  Mexico,  from  its  reedy  lake  shores  and  snow-clad  mountain 
slopes,  down  to  its  ticrra  calicntc,  Olmecs,  Toltecs,  and  Aztecs 
have  departed  or  yielded  over  their  lands  and  power  to  others. 
From  the  coral-built  and  palm-plumed  islands  of  those  southern 
seas,  Arowacs,  Lucayans,  and  Carib  tribes  have  vanished,  leav- 
ing but  their  uncertain  names  en  the  islands  and  encircling  waters 
of  the  Caribbean  Sea.  These  savage  tribes  held  nothing  for  hu- 
manity's lasting  good— neither  art  nor  science,  religion  nor  learn- 
ing— and  they  gave  place  to  a  stronger  race.  That  race  made  its 
first  appearance  in  the  caravels  of  Columbus,  and  proudly  took 
possession  of  the  new  world  in  the  name  of  Castile  and  Aragon. 
1  hus  a  new  race,  a  new  power,  a  new  language,  a  new  religion 
overspread  the  new  world.  Everything  favored  it.  The  home 
territory  had  been  enlarged  and  unified;  the  Moors  had  been  sub- 
dued and  expelled  :  a  wise  and  sagacious  ruler  sat  on  the  throne  ; 
the  people  were  inured  to  hardship  and  thirsting  for  adventure 


4°8  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

CARTE«.  ancj  riches_     Fierce  was  the  onset  of  the  conquistadores  upon  the 

weak  tribes  of  the  new  world.  Their  ships,  their  horses,  their  fire- 
arms, their  pitiless  cruelty  struck  terror  to  their  feeble  enemies, 
and  they  sw^ept  everything  before  them.  For  Cortez  and  Alva- 
rado,  Pizarro  and  De  Soto,  it  was  easy  to  overwhelm  all  that  op- 
posed and  take  all  that  was  found.  The  nation  that  then  stood  first 
in  riches,  in  military  prowess  and  sea  power,  soon  owned  the 
new  world  and  impressed  upon  it  its  laws,  language,  and  religion. 
from  Tierra  del  Fuego  to  the  "Father  of  Waters,"  upon  whose 
banks  we  assemble  to-day. 

The  conquering  race  brought  with  it  two  dominant  ideas,  both 
fundamentally  wrong,  but  which  have  guided  down  to  the  pres- 

TWO  character-   ent  the  national  and  social  life  of  that  people.     The  one,  as  Cor- 

istics.  .  1 

tez  expressed  it  to  the  Aztec  Emperor,  is  a  disease  which  only 
gold  can  cure;  the  other,  a  fierce  religious  fanaticism  which  up  to 
date  nothing  has  cured. 

By  the  side  of  the  glorious  name  of  Columbus  and  the  new 
Nvorld  stands  the  dark  and  bloody  name  of  Torquemada  and  the 
inquisition.  Both  men  and  both  deeds  were  indorsed  by  the 
same  throne.  The  nation  just  released  from  seven  hundred  years 
of  Moslem  rule  had  become  Moslem,  not  in  faith  but  in  heart.  It 
had  kept  its  religion  not  for  love  of  God  but  for  hatred  of  the 
Moor,  and  it  learned  to  surpass  him  in  rapacity  and  fanaticism. 
A  thirst  for  gold  and  a  thirst  for  the  blood  of  the  heretic  were  th? 

seeds  of  death  in  that  body  politic.     Never  did  nation  more  clear- 
Gold,  trold  11  r  •  11    i  •     i 

ly  prove  that  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  ot  all  kinds  ot  ev;;. 

Bloodthirsty  soldier  and  bigoted  priest  vied  with  each  other  to  do 
their  best — that  is,  their  worst.  Each  helped  the  other  to  heal 
himself  with  the  gold  cure,  the  only  rivalry  being  which  should 
take  the  larger  doses  of  the  medicine. 

From  Cuba  in  1519  sailed  the  expedition  under  Cortez  that  con- 
quered Mexico;  from  Cuba  in  1539  sailed  the  expedition  under 
De  Soto  that  explored  Florida,  penetrated  the  Mississippi  basin 
to  the  site  of  St.  Louis,  and  left  the  body  of  its  intrepid  leader 
buried  on  the  banks  of  the  great  river  he  had  discovered.  Thus 
by  hardihood  and  daring  it  was  that  a  nation  with  a  paganized 
form  of  Christianity  and  a  Moslemized  heart — a  nation  that 
spurned  the  great  Reformation  and  held  on  to  and  still  holds  on 
to  bigotry  and  rapacity — was  the  first  to  impress  itself  upon  the 


MEXICO   AND    CUBA.  409 

Western  world.     Not  until  January  i,  1899,  was  its  flag  hauled  CARTER. 
down  and  withdrawn  forever  from  these  shores. 

What  did  the  departing  nation  leave  as  its  legacy  to  the  new  g    .  ,g       _ 
world?    W7e  would  be  just  and  fair,  but  we  must  say  that,  had  it  cy. 
done  its  duty,  we  should  not  to-day  be  surveying  its  late  posses- 
sions as  destitute  mission  fields. 

Spain  has  left  us  a  language  of  great  richness  and  sonorous 
melody;  wonderfully  adapted  to  all  the  forms  of  polite  compli- 
ment, diplomatic  indirection,  and  superficial  noncommitment,  but 

.   .  .  language, 

poor  and  weak  in  the  elevated  speech  of  spiritual  worship  and  the 

plain  words  of  truth-telling.  It  is  a  language  in  which  all  holy 
names  and  things  are  dishonored  and  dragged  down  to  the  low 
level  of  things  common  and  profane.  The  beggar  in  the  street  is 
Jcsiis,  the  criminal  in  the  jail  is  Salvador  (Saviour),  a  dirty  street 
in  the  city  is  Espiritu  Santo  (Holy  Spirit),  anything  from  a  low 
dive  to  a  stately  church  is  Santisima  Trinidad  (Holy  Trinity).  The 
terminology  of  the  pure  things  of  heaven  is  put  upon  the  unclean 
things  of  earth.  All  high  things  are  degraded,  all  pure  things 
are  defiled.  All  moral  ideas  are  confused,  all  moral  values  are 
debased,  and  all  moral  standards  are  overturned. 

She  left  a  religion  without  morals,  a  religion  of  pageant,  cere- 
monial, and  procession;  of  sensuous  forms,  of  tinseled,  tawdry 
images,  lying  wonders  and  profane  fables;  she  sealed  up  the  foun- 
tain of  life  and  denied  to  the  people  the  word  of  life — the  Holy  .Qn 
Book  of  God.  She  left  a  priesthood  that  arrogantly  claimed  an 
absolute  monopoly  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  to  be  the  sole  agents 
of  heaven  to  open  the  gates  of  salvation — a  priesthood  ignorant, 
arrogant,  tyrannical,  that  turned  the  sacraments  into  simony, 
marriage  into  concubinage,  and  gave  to  the  poor  a  bone  pit  for 
a  grave  in  a  corner  of  the  consecrated  cemetery.  What  good 
fruit  could  grow  on  such  a  corrupt  tree?  It  was  fitting  that  the 
sun  of  the  twentieth  century  should  not  shine  upon  the  political 
power  that  upheld  it  in  the  new  world. 

At  Jamestown,  Ya.,  in  1607,  on  the  site  of  a  Spanish  colony 
planted  and  abandoned  eighty  years  before,  and  at  Plymouth, 
Mass.,  in  1620.  another  nationality  planted  itself.  This  newcom- 
er sought  a  home  rather  than  glory  and  gold.  Jamestown  plant-  Another  race- 
ed  the  seed  of  representative  government  and  equality  before  the 
law.  Plymouth  stood  for  the  right  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  the  conscience.  This  new  man  brought  not  the 


410  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

CARTER.  crucifix  as  the  symbol  of  his  faith,  but  the  Word  of  God  as  the  em- 

bodiment of  it.  He  built  churches,  but  not  altars  ;  he  bowed  down 
to  Almighty  God  and  confessed  his  sins,  but  crouched  at  no  con- 
fessional box  and  knew  no  priest.  He  planted  in  the  new  soil  the 
seed  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  He  guarded  it  with  love  and 
watered  it  with  his  blood.  He  loved  fair  play,  common  honesty, 
and  a  chance  for  every  man.  God  has  spread  him  abroad  a  mighty 
people.  From  a  bare  foothold  on  the  rocky  coast  he  has  passed 
across  mountain  range,  over  wide  prairie,  along  great  rivers  and 
inland  seas  till  he  has  dominion  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and,  paus- 
ing not,  God  has  led  him  out  to  the  island  of  the  sea.  All  his  im- 
portant acquired  territory  he  obtained  from  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries. It  has  been  given  to  our  great  Protestant  Republic  to  dis- 
miss two  Roman  Catholic  powers  from  the  Western  world.  The 
futile  attempt  to  set  up  an  empire  on  our  Southern  border  by  the 
blessing  of  the  Pope  and  the  arms  of  Napoleon  III.  proved  abor- 
tive because  the  United  States  entered  its  caveat.  The  events 
that  sent  the  last  bigoted  Old  World  papal  power  out  of  the  West- 
ern world  are  still  fresh  in  our  minds.  Cuba  yet  quivers  with  the 
reverberations  of  Santiago. 

A  people  who  has  never  bowed  down  to  monarch  nor  pope  and 

that,  please  God.  never  will,  comes  into  the  ascendant  and  takes 

the  banner  of  leadership.     What  does  it  mean?     He  taketh  down 

'For  such  a      one  an<^  setteth  UP  another.     That  which  is  old  and  ready  to  per- 

ti:ue  as  this."  ish  vanisheth  away.  Jesus  Christ  said  :  "The  truth  shall  make  you 
free."  A  people  with  the  truth  moves  to  the  front.  We  open  the 
Book  of  Truth,  we  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captive,  the  opening 
of  the  doors  to  them  that  are  bound,  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord.  We  move  forward  to  our  work  as  they  who  are  appoint- 
ed to  build  up  old  wastes,  to  repair  the  desolations  of  many  gen- 
erations. The  call  of  God  comes  not  now  by  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim,  but  by  the  unfolding  of  his  providence  before  the  eye  of  faith 
and  the  heart  of  love,  by  the  written  word  in  the  Book :  "If  ye  love 
me,  keep  my  commandments;"  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world."  If 
God  calls  the  nation  and  thrusts  it  out,  much  more  he  calls  his 
Church.  What  have  we  done  in  the  Spanish-speaking  world, 
what  are  we  doing,  what  are  the  prospects? 

In  the  mind  and  heart  of  our  beloved  senior  bishop,  our  Mexi- 
can mission  had  its  organic  beginning  as  aggressive  foreign  mis- 
sionarv  work.  Once  when  reminded  of  this  he  modestlv  said  that 


MEXICO    AND    CUBA.  4!  I 

all  that  he  had  done  was  to  hold  the  Church  up  to  the  support  of  CAR1EK- 
the  mission.  Far  more  than  that  he  has  done.  He  has  held  the 
mission  up  to  the  support  of  heaven ;  he  has  carried  the  mission-  Mexlc<)f 
aries  ever  in  his  heart  as  he  ever  carried  the  mission  accounts  in 
his  private  ledger.  He  ceased  not  for  years  to  visit  the  field,  and 
day  and  night  to  plan  and  pray  for  the  wise  planting  and  sound 
growth  of  the  work.  He  secured  in  this  city  the  first  thousand 
dollars  given  for  that  field,  the  first  superintendent  he  appointed 
from  the  Louisiana  Conference ;  the  first  lady  teacher  went  from 
this  city.  The  first  Methodist  property  ever  owned  in  Mexico 
was  bought  by  him.  Our  first  Mexican  preacher,  Alejo  Her- 
nandez, a  man  strangely  brought  to  God  and  Methodism  in  1870, 
was  sent  by  him  in  1873  to  our  fifst  Mexican  congregation  in  the  Biihoj  Keener, 
City  of  Mexico.  The  man  who  preached  the  first  Protestant  ser-  aad  jugrez2\ 
mon  in  the  city,  Sostenes  Juarez,  joined  himself  to  Bishop  Keen- 
er and  Methodism  in  1873.  Both  Hernandez  and  Juarez  began 
to  preach  the  gospel,  led  thereto  by  the  Spirit,  without  ecclesias- 
tical calling  or  help.  Both  became  faithful  Methodist  itinerants 
and  died  in  active  service.  When  such  men,  thus  called  of  God 
and  at  work,  are  found,  it  is  wise  to  second  the  call  and  aid  the 
work.  From  small  beginnings  the  mission  has  had  a  great 
growth  and  has  spread  over  the  whole  republic.  But  it  was  al- 
most a  forlorn  hope  that  confronted  the  bishop  on  his  first  arrival 
at  the  capital,  as  shown  in  his  own  graphic  words,  written  on  the 
occasion  of  his  second  visit:  "I  could  not  but  call  to  mind  ho\v 
heavy  my  heart  was  three  years  ago  just  before  the  purchase  of 
this  property,  how  impossible  it  seemed  to  do  anything  with  these 
nianana  people."  But  when  he  saw  the  assembled  congrega- 
tion and  caught  the  beaming  face  of  Juarez  in  the  pulpit  as  lie 
moved  up  the  aisle  he  said :  "I  felt  a  thrill  of  prayer  and  grati- 
tude shoot  through  my  frame."  Twenty-eight  years  have  passed 
since  that  beginning,  and  evangelical  missions  have  spread  over 
all  the  country  and  Protestantism  claims  thirty  thousand  members 
and  adherents.  Southern  Methodism  has  kept  all  the  time  in  the 
lead.  The  dedication  of  our  beautiful  new  church  a  few  weeks 
ag"o  was  a  great  event.  Lawyers,  business  men,  and  a  member  of 
the  Mexican  Congress  were  in  the  audience,  and  a  great  throng 
filled  the  beautiful  new  temple.  We  are  sure  a  thrill  of  gratitude 
and  prayer  shot  through  our  venerable  bishop's  heart  as  he  read 
the  glowing  account. 


412 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Cuba. 


No  religion. 


The  need. 


Now  a  word  for  Cuba.  "Cuba  libre"  is  an  accomplished  fact, 
and  the  fact  is  due  to  the  United  States.  Civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty, representative  government,  equality  before  the  law,  a  speedy 
trial  for  the  accused,  the  right  of  habeas  corpus,  local  self-govern- 
ment, public  free  schools,  and  municipal  sanitation  are  already 
the  first  fruits  of  the  new  era.  Politics,  foreign  relations,  racial 
differences  may  delay  matters  ;  but  Cuba  is  free,  and  will  take  her 
place,  as  she  deserves  to,  with  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Before  the  yellow  flag  of  Spain  was  furled  our  youngest  bishop 
and  the  missionary  were  on  her  shores  to  enlarge,  organize,  and 
push  the  gospel  campaign.  Protestantism,  with  the  lowering  of 
that  flag,  came  from  behind  closed  doors  and  screened  windows 
where  the  Roman  Catholic  state  religion  had  forced  it  to  live. 
It  is  no  longer  merely  tolerated,  but  walks  abroad  and  breathes 
the  free  air  of  heaven,  and  may  build  its  temples  and  unfurl  its 
banners  anywhere  from  Cape  Maysi  to  Cape  San  Antonio,  with 
none  to  molest  or  make  it  afraid.  We  are  greatly  needed,  and  the 
whole  land  lies  open  before  us.  There  is  not  a  city  or  town  where 
we  cannot  get  a  hearing  and  gather  a  congregation.  Romanism's 
failure  stands  self-confessed  and  patent.  A  recent  writer  has  re- 
marked on  the  "vacuity  of  the  religious  sense"  among  the  Cu- 
bans. Indeed,  it  seems  almost  dead.  A  member  of  the  present 
Constitutional  Convention  said  in  debate  in  that  body  that  "as 
regards  religion  the  Cubans  are  the  most  indifferent  people  in 
the  world."  There  is  an  utter  absence  of  fanaticism.  Every  er- 
ror and  ism  finds  its  advocate  and  followers,  a  flood  of  corrupt 
and  vile  literature  flows  through  the  public  mind,  the  sense  of 
reverence  is  gone,  the  Sabbath  never  existed,  no  lofty  standard  of 
pure  morality  embodied  in  literature  or  incarnate  in  man  holds  a 
place  in  the  public  esteem.  The  foundations  of  truth  and  com- 
mon honesty  have  been  destroyed.  In  all  the  small  affairs  of 
life  the  attitude  is  delay,  suspicion,  distrust.  In  larger  matters  it 
is  delay  to  study  the  ulterior  motives  and  bearing  of  every  propo- 
sition, for  no  man  is  credited  with  being  entirely  ingenuous  and 
honest. 

Into  this  amorphous  body  of  drifting  opinion,  superstitions, 
Roman  paganism,  and  sin,  what  solvent  shall  be  cast  that  the 
precipitate  of  truth  and  honesty  in  national  and  private  life  may 
be  produced  ?  God's  Word.  That  which  has  been  hid  from  Cuba 
from  the  beginning  must  be  uncovered.  She  must  learn  that  re- 


B  84 


DBA 

ION  STATION 
URCH,  SOUTH 

3  OF  THE 

. 

Cl 

SHOWING  MISS 
M.  E.  CH 

Engraved  Especially  for  the  Hoard  of  -Missions 

by 

K.  M.  GAKDNKK  <V  SON.    Nashvillt-.  Trim. 

M.'ALK  OK  M1LKM. 


~I>     K     I     N     C     1     I'    \:.*{ 

C:x      -<<"   y  a  •       >,"v     )  '' 


MEXICO   AND    CUBA.  413 

ligion  lies  not  in  sacerdotalism  and  salvation  is  not  in  the  hand  of  CARTKR- 
a  priest.     The  wisdom  that  has  been  hidden  from  the  ages  must 
be  made  to  shine  forth,  and  in  its  light  Cuba  will  walk,  bringing 
forth  fruit  unto  righteousness.     "Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  will  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest." 


///.   BRAZIL. 


EVANGELISTIC  WORK  IN  THE  FOREIGN  MISSION 

FIELD. 

REV.    J.    W.    TARBOUX,    D.D. 

A  WISE  understanding  of  this  subject  is  of  unspeakable  impor- 
tance to  the  Christian  Church.  Much  time  and  strength  have 
been  wasted  in  useless  discussions ;  and  considerable  want  of  har- 
mony and  some  friction  have  resulted  from  the  very  different, 
if  not  contradictory,  opinions  held  by  members  of  the  home 
Churches  and  of  the  missionary  forces  in  the  field. 

Limiting  the  evangelistic  work  to  a  very  narrow  range,  some 
would  discard  every  agency  that  does  not  clearly  come  within 
the  limits  that  they  themselves  have  established.  To  these,  all 
work  done  outside  of  their  narrow  range  is  a  useless  and  even 
sinful  waste  of  time  and  strength  and  money.  If  they  do  not 
openly  oppose,  they  at  least  look  coldly  and  discouragingly  upon 
all  efforts  that  do  not  agree  with  their  definition  of  evangelistic 
work.  Thus  the  harmonious,  symmetrical,  and  general  move- 
ment of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  rendered  almost  impossible.  May 
God  give  his  divine  illumination  upon  this  very  important  occa- 
sion, and  enable  the  members  and  ministers  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  to  see  eye  to  eye  upon  this  great  sub- 
ject of  missionary  work ! 

I.  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  "Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations, 
baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
Place  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever I  commanded  you  :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."  These  words  of  our  Lord  define  the 
work  his  Church  has  to  do.  The  great  duty  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  to  evangelize  the  world.  The  evangelistic  work 
is  not  one  of  several  or  many  departments  of  Church  work,  even 
though  placed  in  the  front  rank  ;  it  is  the  work  of  the  Church.  This 
is  the  end  of  the  Church  ;  everything  else  must  be  considered  as 
means  unto  this  end.  But  after  this  is  said  and  accepted,  it  be- 


EVANGELISTIC   WORK.  415 

comes  necessary  to  define  clearly  what  is  meant  by  the  evangeli-  TA*«»°ux. 
zation  of  the  world.  Can  it  mean  the  rapid  and  superficial  an- 
nouncing of  the  gospel  through  a  country,  whether  the  people 
are  converted  or  not?  Can  it  mean  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
to  one  generation  without  providing  for  the  holding  of  the  ground 
won  and  the  conserving  of  the  rising  generation  in  the  faith  and 
virtues  of  the  parents  ? 

The  evangelization  of  the  world,  it  appears  to  me,  demands  the 
conversion  of  the  individual  and  the  holding  and  developing  of 
the  individual  for  Christ,  the  conversion  of  a  people  and  the  hold- 
ing and  developing  of  this  people  for  Christ,  the  conversion  of 
one  generation  and  the  holding  and  developing  of  this  generation 
and  the  next  for  the  Lord  our  Saviour. 

If  the  great  commission  means  less  than  this,  then  it  provides 
for  its  own  defeat.  The  Church  in  this  case  would  be  as  a  small 

army  of  invasion  entering  into  a  countrv  without  anv  idea  of 

,    ,  .  .  ,  •        i         r  •     '  .,,1116  great 

taking  permanent   possession,   but   simply   of  passing   rapidly   commission. 

through,  doing  such  deeds  of  heroism  as  might  be  possible  on 
its  hasty  march.  In  its  rear  would  spring  anew  enemies  that 
were  thought  to  be  conquered,  and  the  evangelistic  forces  would 
have  to  return  on  their  march,  forever  repeating  work  that  would 
never  remain  done. 

On  the  contrary,  has  not  God  promised  the  world  to  his  Son  ? 
is  not  the  Christian  Church  like  the  children  of  Israel  entering 
the  land  of  Canaan,  not  to  pass  rapidly  through  it,  but  to  take 
possession  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  dwell  in  the  land,  build- 
ing homes  and  cities  for  themselves  and  their  children's  children, 
unto  many  generations  ? 

Does  not  the  great  commission,  taken  along  with  other  teach- 
ings of  our  Lord  and  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  indicate  that 
the  Lord  has  committed  to  his  Church  the  spiritual  conquest  of 
the  whole  world  ? 

"Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  nations  for  thine  inher- 
itance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession." 
''And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  to  me."  "He  shall 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied."  'The  earth 
is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof ;  the  world,  and  they  that 
dwell  therein."  "Blessed  are  the  meek :  for  they  shall  inherit  the 
earth."  Is  not  the  whole  world  the  "promised  land  of  Canaan" 
to  the  spiritual  Israel,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ? 

If  so,  the  dutv  of  the  Church  of  Christ  toward  China  and  Brazil 


416 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


TARBOUX. 


Meaning  of 
the  word. 


Agencies. 


is  not  only  to  try  to  so  preach  Christ  to  the  Chinese  and  Bra- 
zilians of  to-day  as  to  win  their  hearts  to  the  Saviour,  but  also  as 
far  as  possible  to  help  to  provide  all  the  means  and  agencies, 
Christian  pastors,  schools,  teachers,  hospitals,  physicians,  states- 
men, etc.,  that  the  future  generations  of  Chinese  and  Brazilians 
may  be  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

From  these  considerations  we  come  to  the  following  conclu- 
sion: that  whatever  aids  in  winning  and  holding  the  world  for 
Christ  is  an  evangelistic  agency,  and  must  be  cheerfully,  rever- 
ently, and  persistently  employed. 

If  this,  our  conclusion,  is  correct,  we  can  say  dogmatically  that 
the  only  work  the  Church  has  to  do  is  the  evangelistic  work,  for  in 
it  is  included  every  agency,  every  influence,  every  power,  every 
means,  every  plan  that  can  be  used  in  conquering  the  world  for 
Christ. 

We  can  say,  farther,  that  every  consecrated  teacher,  or  colpor- 
teur, or  physician,  or  nurse,  or  even  servant,  who  labors  in  his 
sphere  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ,  is  as  truly  an 
evangelist  as  the  pioneer  preacher.  The  apparent  results  of  one 
work  may  be  different  from  those  of  another,  but  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation  has  assured  us  that  his  favor  and  his  rewards  will 
be  not  according  to  rank  nor  results,  but  according  to  faithful 
service.  There  is  great  reason  for  these  truths  being  emphasized 
and  remembered. 

Some  missionaries  think  that  there  is  no  true  missionary  work 
but  that  of  the  active  pioneer  preacher;  they  become  restless  if 
called  to  any  other  sphere  of  action ;  some  even  speak  of  refusing 
to  do  such  and  such  work  if  placed  upon  them.  Do  they  not 
labor  under  a  radical  mistake  ?  Are  not  all  the  soldiers  and  their 
work  equally  necessary  to  the  final  result :  those  that  watch  be- 
hind fortress  walls,  and  those  who  drill  the  raw  recruits  in  safe 
retreats,  and  those  who  prepare  and  guard  ammunition  and  com- 
missary trains  in  the  rear,  as  well  as  those  who  form  the  advance 
guard  on  picket  outposts  or  dangerous  sallies  ? 

II.  Treating  of  the  agencies  in  evangelistic  work  according  to 
the  above  definition,  we  are  led  to  divide  them  into  aggressive  and 
conservative  forces,  remembering,  however,  that  the  aggressive 
forces  have  always  conservative  tendencies,  and  the  conservative 
forces  very  often  large  aggressive  opportunities.  For  this  reason 
it  is  difficult  to  make  a  classification  that  will  adapt  itself  to  every 


EVANGELISTIC    WORK.  417 


TARBOUX. 


mission  field.    An  agency  that  is  almost  entirely  conservative  in 
one  field  may  be  positively  aggressive  in  another. 

The  chief  agencies  may  be  mentioned  as  follows :  The  pioneer 
preacher,  the  press  and  Christian  literature,  the  colporteur  and 
Bible  woman,  the  organized  Church  and  pastor,  the  school  and 
Christian  teacher,  the  hospital  and  Christian  physician. 

Undoubtedly  the  pioneer  preacher  occupies  the  first  rank 
among  the  evangelistic  forces.  He  is  par  excellence  the  aggres- 
sive agency  of  the  Church.  And  yet  to  be  successful  he  must  The  preacher 
be  accompanied  by  several  of  the  other  agencies,  and  at  times  flrst> 
combine  them  in  his  own  person.  The  herald  of  the  cross  has 
at  times  to  be  not  only  preacher,  but  printer  and  colporteur,  teach- 
er and  physician,  in  order  to  gain  an  entrance  among  the  people 
to  whom  he  is  sent.  And  we  think  he  not  only  has  the  right 
but  is  in  duty  bound  to  lay  hold  of  any  and  all  means  necessary 
to  gain  the  attention  of  the  people  and  enable  him  to  successfully 
deliver  his  divine  message. 

The  press  and  Christian  literature,  and  the  colporteur  and  Bible 
woman,  we  would  place  among  the  aggressive  evangelistic  agen- 
cies in  the  order  in  which  they  are  presented.  The  organized  otlier  forcae' 
Church  and  pastor,  the  school  and  teacher,  the  hospital  and  phy- 
sician we  would  name  as  the  conservative  evangelistic  forces, 
recognizing,  however,  that  they  too,  within  their  sphere  of  ac- 
tion, are  and  must  be  active  aggressive  agencies.  The  evident 
design  of  our  subject,  however,  is  to  limit  us  to  the  work  of  the 
pioneer  evangelistic  preacher. 

III.  'We  will,  therefore,  attempt  to  describe  what  would  be  an 
ideal  plan  of  pioneer  evangelistic  work- in  the  foreign  mission  field. 
We  must  have  two  ministers  prepared  in  every  way  to  preach 
clearly,  simply,  but  with  divine  power,  the  gospel  message  in  the 
language  of  the  people. 

\\  e  must  have  also  four  devoted   men,  laymen  or  ministers, 
prepared  to  sing  sweetly  and  touchingly  in  quartet  the   songs    Sweet  s^61"5- 
of  Zion. 

There  must  be  one  IT  two  colporteurs  to  accompany  the  pio- 
neer band.  These  men  must  have  from  the  Christian  press  Bibles, 
hymn  books,  tracts,  and  Christian  literature  to  sell  and  distribute  An  ideal  plan_ 
freely  and  abundantly  among  the  people.  They  must  be  fur- 
nished with  the  means  and  facilities  for  traveling  from  place  to 
place,  and  of  stopping  in  any  place  as  long  as  is  judged  necessary 
IS 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


TARBOUX. 


What  would 
come  of  it? 


Concentration 
needed. 


to  fully  and  faithfully  present  the  gospel  message  and  test  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

As  they  go  from  village  to  village,  from  town  to  town,  from 
city  to  city,  and  souls  are  converted  to  Jesus,  the  Church  must  be 
prepared  to  establish  churches  and  schools,  and  to  send  up  from 
the  rear  pastors  and  teachers  and  Bible  women  that  the  sons  and 
daughters  born  unto  God  may  be  nourished  and  brought  up 
wisely  in  the  way  of  the  Lord. 

The  pioneer  band,  however,  must  not  be  diverted  from  its  work 
nor  its  effective  forces  weakened  to  furnish  pastors  and  teachers 
to  the  small  Churches  that  are  organized  along  the  line  of  march. 

These  eight  pioneer  workers  must  have  their  homes  in  the 
same  place,  that,  on  their  return  from  one  campaign  to  rest,  they 
may  together  plan  and  prepare  and  pray  for  the  next  campaign. 
They  must  be  chosen  men  of  God,  without  fear  and  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  each  one  with  special  gifts  for  his  special  work. 

Put  a  few  such  devoted  bands  at  work  in  Brazil  or  Mexico  or 
Cuba,  or  even  in  China  or  Japan,  and  the  devil  would  be  driven 
to  despair,  for  revival  fires  would  soon  be  kindled  in  many  parts 
of  the  land,  that  neither  men  nor  devils  would  be  able  to  put  out. 

Two  men  working  together  have  many  times  more  influence 
and  power  than  one  working  alone.  Eight  men  working  to- 
gether, of  one  mind  and  one  heart,  in  the  way  indicated,  would 
exert  an  influence  hundreds  of  times  greater  than  one  man  by 
himself,  who  has  almost  to  exhaust  himself  in  his  lonely  effort  to 
keep  up  his  own  spiritual  warmth  and  aggressiveness. 

In  the  little  land  of  Palestine  and  among  their  own  people 
Jesus  thought  it  wise  to  send  out  his  preachers  two  by  two. 
But  the  modern  Church  of  the  nineteenth  century  sends  a  man 
alone  to  the  backwoods  of  Brazil,  or  to  the  million-peopled  cen- 
ters of  the  East,  and  is  surprised  that  great  results  are  not 
achieved. 

The  almost  universal  method  of  mission  work  has  been  to  scat- 
ter the  mission  band  as  largely  as  possible  over  the  territory  to 
be  evangelized,  placing  one  here  and  another  there  in  the  towns 
and  cities,  many  persons  considering  it  to  be  a  grave  error  to 
put  more  than  one  man  in  the  same  place.  Of  course  it  would 
be  a  grave  error  if  they  were  placed  in  one  town  or  city  there 
to  remain  and  stagnate.  But  treating  of  the  active,  pioneer,  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  mission  field,  could  not  six  or  eight  men  do 
more  effective  work  in  the  way  suggested  than  by  the  same  men 


TARBOUX. 


EVANGELISTIC   WORK.  419 

widely  separated,  working  according  to  the  old  methods  ?  This 
much  we  can  say,  that  some  efforts  made  on  a  small  scale  and  in 
a  very  imperfect  way  in  the  Brazil  Mission  lead  us  to  think  that 
very  gracious  results  may  be  accomplished  by  such  bands  of 
workers. 

But  whichever  may  be  the  mission  field,  and  whatever  may  be 
the  method  of  work  employed,  the  pioneer  workers  ought  never 
to  allow  the  converts  to  be  satisfied  or  deceived  by  a  simple 
change  of  ideas  or  beliefs :  they  must  press  them  on  and  guide 
them  to  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  experimental  religion 
and  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  work  and  pray  with  them 
until,  under  a  deep  sense  of  their  lost  condition  through  sin,  they 
lay  hold  of  Christ  as  their  blessed  friend  and  Saviour,  and  can  rise 
up  and  give  glad  testimony  to  what  God  has  done  in  their  souls. 
One  such  overjoyed  convert  can  tell  the  glad  story  of  salvation 
better  than  any  half  dozen  foreign  preachers. 

As  to  the  proportion  of  workers  to  be  engaged  in  the  different 
departments  of  evangelistic  work,  it  is  impossible  to  establish  any 
positive  rule.  We  may  advance  the  following  general  principle : 
that  in  the  departments  of  literature,  the  organizing  and  con-  Distnbuti°n 
ducting  of  Churches,  schools,  hospitals,  etc.,  there  should  be 
engaged  a  sufficient  number  of  workers  to  conserve  all  that  is 
gained  by  the  pioneer  bands,  and  also  to  prepare  workers  and 
materials  for  the  ever-enlarging  evangelistic  work  of  the  future. 

If  small  results  accompany  the  pioneer  movement,  there  will 
be  small  demand  for  other  workers ;  if  widespread  revivals  should 
result,  then  the  army  of  occupation  would  have  to  be  correspond- 
ingly large.  And  yet,  let  it  be  said  here,  there  can  be  no  iron- 
bound  rule  or  idea  as  to  the  pioneer  evangelistic  agency.  In 
one  land  it  may  be  the  quivering  voice  of  the  street  preach- 
er ;  in  another  the  patience  and  kindness  and  thoroughness  of  the 
Christian  teacher,  who  works  only  within  the  four  walls  of  his 
schoolroom  ;  or,  in  still  another,  the  skillful  surgeon's  knife,  that 
is  guided  in  its  every  movement  by  a  prayer  that  the  heart  of 
the  patient  may  be  opened  to  the  Great  Physician  of  souls.  As 
soon,  however,  as  the  entering  wedge  makes  an  opening,  the  need 
of  the  evangelist  is  felt. 

On  the  opening  of  any  mission  field,  or  at  least  in  the  first  few 
years  of  its  existence,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  outlay  of 
men  and  money  on  the  side  of  the  more  conservative  evangelistic 
force  may  seem  to  be  out  of  proportion  to  the  outlav  on  the 


420 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


TAKBOVX. 


Pioneering 
work. 


side  of  the  more  aggressive  forces,  but  the  ratio  ought  to  change 
as  the  years  go  by.  The  same  school  that  teaches  ten  children 
from  one  county  may  teach  hundreds  in  the  future  gathered 
from  several  States.  The  same  press  that  publishes  a  few  thou- 
sand humble  pages  in  the  beginning  may  publish  hundreds  of 
thousands  in  the  future. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  evangelistic  work  in  a  foreign 
field  arrangements  should  be  made  to  provide  well-qualified 
native  evangelists  and  pastors  for  the  future.  The  need  for 
these  native  preachers  is  so  clear  that  no  argument  is  called  for 
here. 

But  how  shall  they  be  found  and  prepared?  A  few  may  be 
found  among  adult  converts,  but  they  will  be  rather  makeshifts 
for  the  present  emergency  than  men  prepared  for  the  future  de- 
mands of  the  Church. 

The  Church  is  forced  to  look  to  the  little  ones,  and  she  must 
provide  schools  and  teachers  for  them.  If  the  native  converts  are 
not  able  to  establish  and  direct  these  schools  for  themselves, 
then  the  Mother  Church  is  in  duty  bound  to  take  the  matter  in 
hand.  She  must  see  that  a  sound  Christian  education  is  given 
to  the  children,  or  else  lose  her  hold  on  future  generations.  The 
Christian  school  work  of  to-day  is  the  evangelistic  work  pro- 
jected into  the  future. 

IV.  Let  us  look  in  conclusion  at  the  results  of  evangelistic 
work  in  foreign  mission  fields. 

What  are  the  results?  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  bring  to  your 
attention  on  this  occasion  any  special  row  of  figures.  Many 
souls  have  been  converted,  possibly  more  in  the  foreign  field  in 
what  has  been  proportion  to  the  men  and  money  employed  than  in  the  home 
lands.  Many  souls  have  been  saved,  precious  souls,  immortal 
souls,  souls  for  whom  Jesus  died ;  every  one  of  whom,  to  the 
eternal  and  infinite  Father  of  Spirits,  is  worth  more  than  all  the 
silver  and  gold  that  he  has  treasured  up  in  the  granite  chambers 
of  this  round  world.  In  Brazil  alone,  as  the  result  of  twenty-five 
years  of  work  and  expenditure,  there  were  reported  this  year 
some  three  thousand  Church  members. 

Suppose  that  only  one-half  of  them  are  true  spiritual  children 
of  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  and  then  what  have  we?  One  thou- 
sand five  hundred  priceless  gems  that  will  shine  forever  in  the 
crown  of  our  Saviour's  heavenly  rejoicings,  one  thousand  five 
hundred  living  stones  in  the  foundations  of  the  moral  and  spir- 


done? 


EVANGELISTIC    WORK.  421 


TARBOUX. 


itual  edifice  that  God  is  building  in  this  world  for  the  honor  of 
his  name  and  the  refuge  of  his  people. 

What  may  not  infinite  wisdom  and  power  and  grace  do  with 
these  immortal,  redeemed,  sanctified  souls  in  the  future  history 
of  Brazil  and  the  endless  ages  of  the  heavenly  world?  In  every 
soul  saved  there  are  infinite,  because  eternal,  possibilities. 

But  is  this  all?  Suppose  as  the  result  of  all  the  labors  and 
expenditures  and  suffering  in  all  the  mission  fields  there  was  not 
a  single  saved  soul  to  rejoice  over,  would  the  Church  have  reason 
to  count  her  labors  all  lost?  Would  the  blessed  consciousness 
of  having  tried  to  obey  the  Lord  Jesus  be  nothing?  Would  the 
voice  of  the  Master  saying  to  his  faithful,  though  unsuccessful, 
Church,  though  bringing  no  sheaves,  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,  for  faithfully 
hast  thou  wrought  without  the  encouragement  of  success," 
would  this  voice  of  approval  be  nothing? 

Would  it  be  nothing  that  on  this,  the  grandest  arena  for  the 
trying  and  developing  of  human  souls,  God  had  raised  up  and 
perfected  such  heroic  and  royal  sons  as  Livingstone  and  Morri-    3enefits  to  the 
son,  Carey  and  Judson,  Moffat  and  Brainerd,  and  a  host  of  others    missionaries, 
who,  by  the  very  difficulties  and  dangers,  sacrifices  and  self- 
denials  of  the  foreign  mission  work,  had  the  human  eliminated 
and  the  divine  more  and  more  fully  grafted  into  their  lives  and 
spirits  even  in  this  world,  and  were  thus  fitted  for  higher  deeds 
in  the  heavenly  world  ? 

The  labors  and  sufferings  of  the  Christian  Church  during  the 
last  one  hundred  years  have  enriched  the  world  forever,  and  even 
increased  the  treasures  of  heaven. 

May  God  only  grant  that  the  blessed  opportunities  of  giving 
and  laboring  and  even  suffering  in  this  great  and  divine  cause 
may  be  continued  to  us  and  our  children,  until  the  royal  house- 
hold of  heaven  be  complete,  and  the  soul  of  our  dear  Redeemer 
fully  satisfied  ! 


Territory. 


Products. 


422  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

BRAZIL:  A  SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELD. 

REV.    E.   A.    TILLY. 

OF  the  American  states  or  republics  (whether  north,  central, 
or  south),  Brazil  is  the  largest  in  extent  of  territory,  and  is  situ- 
ated in  the  great  eastern  angle  of  South  America,  between  lati- 
tude 4°  30'  N.  and  33°  40'  S.,  and  longitude  34°  49'  and  72°  W. 
Its  greatest  length  is  2,600  miles,  its  greatest  breadth  2,500,  with 
a  seaboard  of  about  4,000  miles,  and  an  area  of  3,288,110  square 
miles. 

This  vast  territory,  larger  than  the  United  States  and  almost 
as  great  in  extent  as  all  Europe,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Colombia,  Venezuela,  and  the  Guianas  (British,  French,  and 
Dutch);  washed  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic  ocean;  while  the 
Spanish  republics  of  Uruguay  and  the  Argentine,  Paraguay, 
Bolivia,  Peru,  and  Ecuador  lie  to  the  south  and  west. 

The  country  takes  its  name  from  a  kind  of  wood  (native  to  the 
West  Indies  and  Brazil)  used  for  dyeing  purposes,  and  not  the 
wood  from  the  country,  as  is  often  affirmed.  Chaucer,  before  the 
discovery  of  Brazil,  May  3,  1500,  by  the  Portuguese  Admiral 
Pedro  de  Cebral,  wrote  :  "Him  nedeth  not  his  colour  for  to  dien 
with  Brasil,  ne  with  grain  of  Portingal." 

The  surface  of  the  country  with  respect  to  elevation  is  divided 
into  (i)  the  higher  region  (embracing  plateaus,  ridges,  valleys, 
etc.)  south  of  the  fifth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  (2)  the  lowland 
plain  of  the  Amazon,  extending  inland  to  the  base  of  the  Andes. 

The  most  prominent  of  the  mountains  are  Mantiqueira,  Ver- 
tcntes,  Espinhaco,  and  Serra  do  Mar.  Of  rivers,  wTe  mention  the 
Amazon  ("the  Mediterranean  of  South  America,  the  largest 
stream  of  the  globe,  affording,  with  its  tributaries,  free  navigation 
over  not  less  than  30,000  miles  within  Brazilian  territory"), 
Tocantinc,  Turyassu,  Maranhoo,  Paranahyba,  Sao  Francisco, 
Paraguassu,  Rio  Doce,  Parahyba  do  Sul,  Parana,  and  Paraguay. 

Brazil  is  possibly  the  richest  country  in  the  world  in  natural  re- 
sources. The  following  gems  are  to  be  found  :  Diamonds,  emer- 
alds, sapphire,  rubies,  topazes,  beryls,  tourmalines  (black,  blue, 
and  green),  amethysts.  Garnets  are  also  found,  but  of  inferior 
quality.  Of  the  more  useful  minerals  to  be  had  in  abundance,  we 
mention  coal,  sulphur,  saltpeter,  salt,  gold,  silver,  copper,  mag- 
nesia, galena  (lead),  and  iron. 

A  great   variety  of  climate  is  to  be  expected  in  a  country  so 


1     o      r 


<r 


BRAZIL.  423 

extensive,  with  so  diversified  a  surface.     In  the  northern  low-    riI-'-v- 
lands  the  heat  is  the  greatest,  the  year  being  divided  into  wet 
and  dry  seasons.    In  the  central  and  southern  highlands  a  greater 
variety  in  the  seasons  and  climates  is  found,  while  to  the  south, 
beyond  the  tropics,  a  zone  is  reached  in  which  the  four  seasons  are 

marked.     In  the  extreme  north  the  temperature   ranges  from 

1  °  Climate  ard 

85  degrees  to  75  degrees,  in  the  section  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  from  vegetation. 
80  degrees  to  65  degrees ;  while  in  the  extreme  southern  States, 
from  75  degrees  to  50  degrees.  The  east,  northeast,  and  south- 
east trade  winds  prevail,  according  to  the  season,  and  contribute 
much  to  making  Brazil  a  delightful  country  in  which  to  live. 
The  country  is  generally  healthy.  In  many  of  the  seacoast  towns 
and  cities,  and  in  some  inland  localities,  yellow  fever  epidemics 
have  been  experienced. 

Ihe  vegetation  is  luxuriant  beyond  description.  In  the  forest 
of  Brazil  you  find  every  species  of  useful  and  ornamental  wood. 
The  ibiripitanga,  or  Brazil  wood,  is  the  most  valuable  of  all, 
yielding  a  fine  red  dye.  It  is  both  hard  and  heavy,  and  is  sus- 
ceptible of  a  very  high  and  beautiful  polish.  The  caouichouc 
tree  furnishes  large  quantities  of  gum.  The  export  of  this  prod- 
uce alone  averages  a  value  of  at  least  $10,000,000  a  year. 

The  fruits  are  numerous  and  excellent,  such  as  the  banana, 
pineapple,  mango,  custard  apple,  guava,  and  various  kinds  of 
melons  and  nuts. 

While  the  agricultural  products  are  great,  the  number  of  farm- 
ers, compared  with  the  extent  of  the  soil,  show  that  only  one 
acre  in  every  one  hundred  and  eighty  is  under  cultivation.  The 
chief  products  of  the  country  are  coffee,  sugar,  cotton,  manioc 
(cassava  flour),  tobacco,  rice,  maize,  fruits,  and  spices. 

The  varieties  of  animal  life  are  more  numerous,  perhaps,  than 
in  any  other  region  in  the  world.  Xo  less  immense  is  the  variety 
of  birds,  and  these  are  celebrated  for  the  beauty  of  their  plumage. 

In  the  year  i-Wy  Vicente  Yaricz  I'incon,  a  companion  of  Co- 
lumbus, described  land  near  Cape  St.  Augustine,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  Spanish  government. 
The  following  year  Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral,  the  Portuguese  com-  Early  ^story 
mander,  appointed  by  his  monarch  to  follow  the  course  of  Vasco 
de  Gama  in  the  East,  was  driven  by  adverse  winds  so  far  from 
his  track  that  he  readied  the  Brazilian  coast  on  the  24th  of  April, 
and  anchored  in  the  Porto  Seguro  (1.6"  S.  latitude)  on  Good 
Fridav.  On  Easter  Dav  an  altar  was  erected,  and  mass  was  cole- 


424 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


settlement. 


Population. 


brated  in  the  presence  of  the  natives,  the  country  was  declared 
an  appanage  of  Portugal,  and  a  stone  cross  erected  in  commem- 
oration of  the  event. 

In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  both  the  French 
and  Dutch  attempted,  time  after  time,  to  get  a  footing  in  Brazil, 
but  signally  failed.     But  for  the  treacherous  dealings  of  Nicolas 
Durand  de  Villeganon  toward  the  Huguenots,  Brazil  might  have 
become  a  Protestant  power.    From  1578  to  1640  the  country  was 
an  appanage  of  Spain.    In  1640  Brazil  was  restored  to  the  Portu- 
guese crown.    As  early  as  1789,  because  of  the  successful  revolu- 
tion of  the  English  colonies  in   North   America,  the  educated 
youth  of  the  state  of  Minas  made  an  attempt  to  throw  off  the 
Portuguese   yoke — a   cavalry   officer,   Silva  Xavier,   nicknamed 
Tiradientes    (tooth-drawer),   being  the   chief  conspirator.     The 
plot  being  discovered,  the  conspirators  were  banished  to  Africa, 
and  Tiradientes,  the  leader,  was  hanged.    Just  one  hundred  years 
after  his  death  the  republic  of  the  United  States  of  Brazil  was 
born.     Brazil  is  the  only  instance  of  a  colony  becoming  the  seat 
of  the  government  of  its  own  mother  country.    Napoleon  having 
resolved  on  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  Portugal,  Don  Joan 
VI.  decided  to  take  refuge  in  Brazil,  where  lie  arrived  on  the  7th 
of  March,  1807.    The  independence  of  Brazil  was  declared  on  the 
7th  of  September,  1822.     Dom  Pedro  II.  was  proclaimed  Em- 
peror on  the  23d  of  July,  1840.    The  i3th  of  May,  1887,  registers 
the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  and  the  15th  of  November,  1889,  the 
proclaiming  of  the  republic.     Dom  Pedro  II.  was  a  great  and 
good  ruler,  a  hard  student,  liberal  in  all  his  ideas,  and  a  true  re- 
publican at  heart.     But  for  his  gracious  reign  of  nearly  a  half 
century  the  wonderful  reforms  of  the  past  decade  would  have 
been  impossible.     The  Church  of  Rome  has  been  the  one  bar- 
rier to  progress  and  development  in  Brazil. 

The  present  population  of  the  country  is  about  17,000,000,  of 
which  number  2,500,000  are  foreigners — principally  Italians  and 
Germans.  The  language  spoken  is  Portuguese.  The  Brazilian 
is  proud,  but  kind  and  courteous.  In  hospitality  he  measures  up 
to  the  proverbial  "Southerner.''  The  great  mass  of  the  people 
arc  ignorant,  only  twenty  per  cent  being  able  to  read  or  write. 
Ignorance,  superstition,  and  vice  stalk  abroad  in  the  land.  I  he 
thinking  ones  attribute  this  sad  state  of  affairs  to  Rome,  and  are 
working  great  reforms  in  spite  of  the  keenest  opposition  on  the 
part  of  the  Church.  The  first  great  reform  was  the  separation  of 


HRAZIL. 


the  Church  and  State,  followed  by  the  secularization  of  ceme- 
teries and  the  adopting  of  the  civil  marriage.  At  the  present  time 
the  cry  on  every  hand  is  for  "more  light,"  and  the  next  legislative 
reform  will  be  to\vard  educating  the  masses.  In  a  few  of  the 
States  already  a  good  public  school  system  has  been  adopted. 
The  priest  still  wields  great  influence,  but  his  power  is  virtually 
broken.  But  for  him  there  would  be  little  or  no  opposition  to 
the  gO'Spel  as  proclaimed  by  the  evangelical  Church.  I  no  longer 
regard  Rome  as  our  greatest  enemy.  A  false  philosophy,  to- 
gether with  all  the  blighting  "isms"  of  the  day,  and  a  lewd,  lech- 
erous, and  lascivious  literature — these  are  the  enemies  against 
which  we  have  to  contend,  and  they  but  add  fuel  to  the  fire 
kindled  by  four  hundred  years  of  loose  and  erroneous  teachings 
on  the  part  of  Rome  in  regard  to  sin.  The  condition  of  affairs  in 
Brazil  demands  aggressive  work  by  the  home  Church.  First  of 
all,  the  gospel  must  be  preached  in  its  purity  and  simplicity,  our 
educational  and  publishing  plants  strengthened,  and  a  whole- 
some and  religious  literature  created. 

For  nearly  a  century  the  Protestant  Church  almost  entirely 
neglected  this  great  and  inviting  field.  However,  in  1835,  Amer- 
ican Methodism  sent  out  Fountain  E.  Pitts  to  explore  the  coun- 
ty-. He  made  a  most  flattering  report,  and  a  mission  was  pro- 
jected. In  March  of  1836  Justin  Spaulding  was  appointed  to  this 
field.  The  following  year  the  mission  was  strengthened  by  the 
appointment  of  D.  P.  Kidder.  A  few  years  later  the  work,  be- 
cause of  the  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  at  home,  was  given  up. 
Bishop  Galloway,  in  commenting  on  this  bit  of  history,  laconical- 
ly says  :  ''The  field  was  unwisely  abandoned." 

The  work  of  Pitts,  Spaulding,  and  Kidcler  was  not  in  vain,  nor 
did  it  go  unnoticed.  ''The  Methodist  and  the  Catholic"  is  the 
title  of  a  work  written  by  a  priest  at  that  time  to  expose  the  sup- 
posed errors  and  evil  effects  of  the  doctrine  taught  by  the  Meth- 
odists. 

In  1875  Rev.  Julius  E.  Xewman,  a  former  member  of  the  Ala- 
bama Conference,  and  residing  in  Brazil,  was  recognized  by  the 
Board  of  Missions  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  as  a  missionary 
of  said  Church  in  Brazil,  and  in  December,  1875,  Rev.  J.  J.  Ran- 
som, of  the  Tennessee  Conference,  was  sent  to  join  him,  arriving 
in  Rio  cle  Janeiro  February  2.  1876. 

The  Brazil  Mission  Conference  was  organized  by  Bishop  I.  C. 
Granbery  in  1886,  with  three  preachers:  Revs.  James  L.  Ken- 


Religion. 


Dlestantism. 


Beginning  of 
our  work. 


426  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

TILLY.  nedy,  J.  W.  Tarboux,  and  H.  C.  Tucker.     For  the  first  fourteen 

years,  up  to  August,  1889,  the  net  average  increase  in  member- 
ship in  the  Church  annually  was  nineteen.  During  the  past 
twelve  years  the  average  increase  has  been  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight.  Last  year  the  net  increase  was  four  hundred  and 
twenty-nine. 

That  a  more  comprehensive  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  present 
condition  of  our  work  in  Brazil,  I  give  the  following  statistics: 
Foreign  workers — married  missionaries,  male,  10;  single,  2;  mar- 
ried missionaries,  female,  10;  single  missionaries  (representative 
of  the  \Y.  B.  F.  M.).  female,  12.  Total,  34.  Districts,  5  ;  cir- 
cuits, stations,  and  missions,  32.  Native  workers :  Traveling 
preach.ers,  14;  local  preachers,  9.  Total,  23.  Members,  2,785; 

I900-""  increase,  429;  Sunday  schools,  46;  teachers,  155  ;  scholars,  1,694; 

Epworth  Leagues,  3;  members,  217.  Boarding  schools.  4;  day 
schools,  7.  Self-supporting  Churches,  7;  collected  last  year  for 
the  support  of  the  ministry,  $4,458.87;  bishops'  fund,  $19;  mis- 
sions, $668.66;  Church  Extension,  $91.70:  American  Bible  Soci- 
ety, $79.53  ;  Twentieth  Century  Fund.  $4,839.76;  other  purposes, 
$6,670.38.  Total,  $16,827.90.  The  per  capita  contribution  of  the 
Brazil  Conference  is  $6.04. 

These  facts  delight  the  heart,  and  beget  within  us  a  larger 
faith  r.s  to  the  future  triumph  of  the  gospel  in  "The  Land  of 
the  Southern  Cross."  \Ye  are  optimists  and  believe  in  the  inher- 
ent power  of  the  gospel,  not  only  to  save  the  individual  from 
ignorance,  superstition,  and  vice,  but  to  enlighten  and  quicken 
the  entire  nation  and  people  with  respect  to  their  mission  and 
destiny  in  the  sisterhood  of  the  States. 

The  problems  that  present  themselves  are  simple  and  not  dif- 
ficult of  solution.  Eighty  per  cent  of  the  people  are  unable  to 
read  and  write — the  problem  of  ignorance. 

On  the  part  of  the  State  there  is  a  great  movement  in  favor 
of  public  instruction,  so  great  that  within  the  life  of  the  republic, 
twelve  years,  five  per  cent  of  the  people  have  been  led  ''from 

Present  ten-  darkness  to  light."  I  attribute  this  marvelous  work  largely  to 
the  evangelical  influence  brought  to  bear  on  the  leaders  of  the 
State  and  to  the  educational  work  of  our  several  Protestant 
schools  and  colleges.  We  should  see  to  it  that  the  Granbery 
College,  founded  for  the  education  of  a  native  ministry,  be  ma- 
terially strengthened — endowed,  if  possible;  that  the  several 
schools  and  colleges  of  the  \Yoman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 


BRAZIL.  427 

be  better  equipped  for  the  work  now  in  hand;  that  our  pub-  TILLY- 
lishing  plant  in  Rio  be  enlarged  and  placed  on  a  firm  financial 
basis,  and  that  a  wholesome  and  clean  literature  be  given  to  the 
people.     In  this  great  work  of  enlightenment  we  have  strong  al- 
lies in  the  American  and  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Societies. 

The  problem  of  unbelief  may  be  presented  in  three  words, 
superstition,  Rome,  sin ;  and  for  its  solution  we  have  but  one 
remedy  to  offer,  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel.  There  is 
a  readiness  on  the  part  of  the  Brazilian  people  to  hear  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Christ;  and  if  this  same  spirit  of  readiness  to  send  to 
them  the  gospel  be  found  in  us,  "a.  nation  may  be  born  unto  God 
in  a  day." 

I  close  this  paper  with  the  wise  words  of  our  presiding  Bishop 
Hendrix :  "The  brethren  agree  with  me  that  the  time  has  come 
to  fortify,  and  that  to  build  colleges  is  to  erect  fortifications. 
They  see,  too,  that  a  Church  is  no  stronger  than  its  institutions 
of  learning.  They  are  building  for  the  future  in  the  great  repub- 
lic of  the  United  States  of  Brazil.  With  a  field  of  labor  in  a 
country  larger  than  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
with  a  people  comparatively  friendly  to  the  gospel,  and  with  a 
total  population  in  twenty  states  of  17,000,000  souls,  there  is  a 
demand  for  large  faith  and  widening  plans." 


IV.    /A PAN. 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  IN  JAPAN— A  SKETCH. 

REV.  J.  C.  CALHOUX  XEWTOX,  D.D. 

THE  providence  of  God  in  missions  is  plainly  seen  in  the  course 
of  events  leading  to  the  opening  of  Japan  in  1854.  In  1549  the 
Roman  Catholics  entered  that  country,  and,  but  for  the  violent 
checking  of  their  work  by  the  rulers,  it  would  have  doubtless 
have  become  a  Romanized  Mexico  or  Spain.  "With  a  slight  ex- 
ception in  favor  of  the  Dutch,  Japan  closed  her  gates,  became  a 
hermit  nation,  tolerating  no  trade  or  other  intercourse  with  Eu- 
rope from  1638  to  1854. 

Before  this  latter  year  the  Protestant  Church  had  emerged 
into  the  arena  of  world-wide  missions,  and  was  listening  for  the 
steppings  of  her  Lord  among  the  Oriental  nations.  When,  there- 
fore, Japan  made  the  first  treaty  (1854)  of  amity  and  trade  with 
The  opening.  foreign  powers,  the  friends  of  missions  in  America  and  Europe 
were  glad,  for  now  at  last  the  country  was  to  be  opened  to  the 
gospel.  Since  Christianity  brought  in  once  before  by  Roman 
Catholics  was  so  successful,  and  their  converts  so  heroic  under 
fiery  persecutions,  what  might  not  be  hoped  for  from  the  bring- 
ing in  of  the  purer  Protestant  faith? 

First  Period  (1859-1872) :  A  Period  of  Persecution  and  Imprison- 
ment. Events  were  moving  that  overthrew  the  Tokugawa  Sho- 
guns,  and  restored  the  Mikados  to  the  throne,  and  the  country 
was  in  a  state  of  dangerous  turmoil.  Intercourse  between  the 
missionaries  and  natives  was  watched  by  government  spies.  The 
missionaries,  like  other  foreigners,  were  believed  to  have  come 
to  "seduce  the  people  of  the  god-country  (Japan')  from  their  loy- 
alty, and  to  corrupt  their  morals."  The  man  who  killed  a  foreign 
barbarian  was  a  patriot,  the  more  so  if  he  put  out  of  the  way  a 
teacher  of  "the  wicked  sect." 

Nor  was  the  danger  abated  upon  the  Mikado's  restoration,  for 
one  of  his  first  acts  was  the  renewal  of  the  ancient  edict  against 
Christianity,  making  its  profession  a  capital  crime.  Indeed,  the 
new  imperial  government  smote  with  a  persecuting  hand  the 


LJ 

H  I 

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§  §  1 

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co  I    - 


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E2 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN.  429 

remnant  of  Roman  Catholics  discovered  in  certain  villages  north-   *=WTON. 
ward  from  Nagasaki,  a  remnant  that  had  strangely  survived  all 
the  persecutions  and  inquisitions  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries. 

Was  ever  a  field  so  discouraging?  When  the  profession  of 
the  faith  is  proclaimed  a  death  crime  by  the  rulers  ;  when  the  low- 
er classes  fear,  and  the  upper  classes  hate  the  missionaries;  when 
they  themselves  are  practically  shut  up  as  prisoners  within  the 
narrow  concessions,  what  could  they  do?  Two  things  they  could 
do :  slowly  win  the  confidence  of  the  Japanese  and  learn  their 
difficult  language.  Yea,  they  did  a  third  thing.  Strangely 
enough,  several  daimyos,  or  feudal  lords,  suspicious  as  they  were, 
vet  eager  to  get  the  clew  to  the  foreigner's  knowledge,  requested 

.to    .          fe.  .  What  could  thi 

the  missionaries  to  teach  their  sons.     Even  before  the  revolution   missionaries 
Drs.  Verbeck,  Brown,  and  Griffis  laid  the  foundation  of  what   do? 
afterwards  became  a  national  system  of  education.     This  is  un- 
paralleled in  missionary  history,  that  from  the  very  outset,  while 
persecution  was  raging  and  the  cross  hated,  so  many  young  men 
destined  to  be  the  leaders  in  the  new  era  should  come  under  the 
training  of  the  missionaries. 

Second  Period  (1872-1890):  Rapid  and  Aggrcssk'c  Expansion. 
How  strong  the  opposition  was  during  the  first  period  let  the 
small  number  of  converts  answer — only  ten  converts  in  twelve 
years!  Not  until  1872  was  the  first  little  Church  organized.  It 
was  in  Yokohama's  foreign  concession,  under  the  American  flag, 
and  consisted  of  only  twelve  members.  It  was  a  mustard  seed  ; 
but  it  began  to  grow,  and  will  grow  into  a  great  tree,  giving  food 
and  shade  to  millions  of  souls. 

The  Church  of  Japan  was  born  in  prayer.  As  the  first  apostol- 
ic Church  in  Europe  originated  in  a  woman's  prayer  meeting  out- 
side the  walls  of  1'hilippi,  so  the  Japanese  Church  took  its  immedi- 
ate origin  in  a  daily  prayer  meeting  of  two  months'  standing. 
For  prayer  book  and  text-book  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  used. 

V,  hen  Prince  Iwakura's  embassy  returned  from  Europe  and 
America  ("1872").  they  felt,  if  they  did  not  say,  "not  the  foreigners, 
but  we  are  the  barbarians."  The  public  edict  boards  against 
C  hristianity  were  at  once  taken  down,  and  a  change  took  place 
among  many  leading  spirits  of  the  nation.  Not  all,  but  man}',  be- 
gan to  feel  the  old  system  of  thing?  must  pass  awav.  and  a  new 
policy  and  system  modeled,  not  after  China,  but  after  the  Western 
nations,  must  be  adopted. 


430 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Political  refor- 
mation. 


Influence  of 
the  missiona- 
ries. 


With  a  rapidity  unknown  before  among  the  Asiatics,  many 
great  things  were  accomplished  during  this  second  period.  Feu- 
dalism and  daimyo  rule  over  the  clans  were  overthrown;  the 
class  privileges  of  the  two-sworded  Samurai  were  abolished;  the 
common  people  were  emancipated  from  feudal  serfdom;  the  cen- 
tral government,  with  its  cabinet  departments,  was  coordinated 
with  the  provinces,  their  respective  governors  appointed  by  the 
crown  ;  a  modern  system  of  education  under  foreign  auspices  was 
organized;  a  modern  police  system,  modern  banks  and  coinage, 
post  offices  and  telegraphs,  steamship  companies,  railways,  mines 
and  manufacturing,  all  according  to  foreign  models  and  methods, 
were  started  and  subsidized  by  the  new  imperial  government. 
We  doubt  if  changes  so  many  and  so  radical,  in  so  short  a  time, 
ever  took  place  in  any  other  nation. 

For  an  adequate  explanation  of  such  a  revolution,  which  cost 
the  nation  a  civil  war  of  only  one  year,  the  presence  and  work  of 
the  missionaries  must  be  considered.  The  missionaries  now  go- 
ing forth  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  treaty  ports,  not  without 
danger,  began  to  hold  preaching  meetings  in  the  public  inns  and 
theaters  of  interior  towns  and  cities. 

The  people  were  curious  to  see  the  foreigners'  hairy  faces,  and 
observe  their  strange  manners,  and,  though  still  influenced  by  the 
traditions  heard  from  childhood  concerning  "the  wicked  sect" 
(Roman  Catholics)  which  once  infested  their  sacred  land,  their 
ears  itched  to  hear  for  themselves  about  the  hated  cross  of  the 
"Kristians."  And  so  regular  preaching  places  were  fixed  upon. 
Small  classes  of  boys  and  young  men  eager  for  the  Western 
learning  were  started,  which  afterwards  became  regular  mission 
colleges ;  girls'  schools,  knitting  and  sewing  classes,  night 
schools,  dispensaries  and  hospitals,  probationers'  meetings,  and 
Sunday  schools  were  opened.  Though  small  at  first,  soon  all 
these  began  to  grow  rapidly. 

This  manifold  mission  work,  along  with  the  progressive  move- 
ments of  the  new  government,  made  a  widespread  impression. 
An  almost  revolutionary  wave  of  sentiment  set  in  in  favor  of  all 
new  and  foreign  things,  and  against  the  things  of  old  Japan.  A 
premature  sentiment  took  possession  of  the  nation,  especially  th- 
younger  generation  :  as  for  the  old  men,  they  hung  their  head;-,, 
bewildered  and  grieved. 

Foreign  dress,  ideas,  manners,  and  institutions  were  hastily 
adoDted.  in  manv  cases  in  ill-fitting  and  ludicrous  fashion.  At 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN.  431 


NEWTON. 


court  foreign  costumes  were  prescribed  for  public  functions. 
Imagine  those  Japanese  officials  stepping  out  in  swallow-tailed 
coats,  silk  hats  and  trousers,  their  necks  incased  in  stiff  collars  introduction 

and   cravats.     And   how   strangely   uncomfortable   to   the   high  of  fl)rsis^ 

.    '  .  .  drees  and 

ladies,  for  the  first  time  squeezing  their  feet  into  narrow-toed,   ways. 

high-heeled  shoes,  and  wearing  tight-fitting  stays  around  their 
waists.  But  it  had  to  be  endured,  for  it  was  the  foreign  way. 

As  for  the  missionaries,  their  schools  were  crowded  to  over- 
flowing; chapels  too  sprang  up  everywhere,  regular  Churches 
were   organized,    native   preachers   were   ordained,   doors   were 
opened  on  all  sides,  and  calls  from  all  directions,  for  all  sorts  of 
work,  came  thick  and  fast.     What  with  preaching,  itinerating,   Fevcrifih  ac_ 
teaching,  writing,  visiting,  and  receiving,  interviewing,  etc.,  the   t-:--:ties. 
missionaries  and  their  poor  wives  were  kept  on  the  run  day  and 
night. 

In  Osaka,  in  1883,  the  General  Conference  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sionaries was  held  for  a  week.  That  was  an  epoch-making  as- 
sembly, and  the  Holy  Ghost  presided  over  their  spirits  and  melted 
all  hearts  into  one  sweet  cup  of  brotherly  love  and  peace.  Reviv- 
als broke  out;  a  great  stir  was  made,  and  converts  were  multi- 
plied by  the  hundreds.  But  as  there  was  no  adequate  provision 
for  conserving  these  results,  it  was  not  an  abiding  change. 

Third  Period  (1890-1900)  :  Sloiw  but  Healthier  Movements. 
The  rapid  advance  of  missions  and  the  admiration  for  everything 
foreign  reached  their  climax  about  the  year  1890.  There  were  Thiri 
causes:  (i)  The  conviction  of  thoughtful  Japanese  leaders  that 
Japan  would  soon  be  swept  off  her  feet  bodily,  and  into  an  untried 
foreign  sea  ;  (2)  the  discovery  that  all  foreign  glitterings  were  not 
gold;  (3)  the  bringing  in  of  Unitarian,  rationalistic,  and  scientific 
skepticism  from  Christian  nations  ;  (4)  a  strong  rally  of  the  con- 
servatives, together  with  Buddhist  priests,  by  appealing  to  Japa- 
nese patriotism  touching  the  foreign  treaties. 

1  he  Japanese  being  patriotic  and  quick-spirited  like  ourselves, 
their  disappointment  over  the  treaties  kindled  a  fire  from  heart 
to  heart  that  soon  leaped  into  a  threatening  ilame.  The  attempt 
of  a  policeman  to  kill  the  present  Czar  of  Russia,  then  a  o-Uest  of 
the  nation,  and  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Tamura  from  the  Presby- 
terian ministry  by  his  brethren  because  he  had  exposed  certain 
social  evils,  prove  what  we  have  said. 


432 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Inauguration 
of  our  mis- 
sion. 


NEWTON.  gut  jet  no  one  SUppose  that  during  this  period  Christianity 

.    made  no  substantial  progress. 

A  sifting  was  needed  in  which  the  faith  of  some  did  collapse,  but 
that  of  many  was  the  more  confirmed.  The  converts  were  fewer, 
THe  sif  ting.  but  more  intelligent  and  thoroughly  grounded  ;  revivals  were  not 
so  sweeping,  but  less  sensational ;  and  while  on  one  hand  Unitari- 
an and  rationalistic  heresies  made  doctrinal  disaffection  among  a 
few  non-Methodist  preachers,  the  pure  gospel  was  preached  by 
many  other  Japanese  with  power  sent  down  as  never  before. 
Real  fidelity  and  self-denial  were  tested,  the  spirit  of  self-support 
developed,  and  the  moral  influence  of  the  Christians  became  more 
potent  in  the  nation.  With  missions  as  with  nations,  sometimes 
the  slower  growth  is  the  healthier. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  eyes  to  the  work  of  our  own  Church  in 
Japan. 

The  alternative  name  of  our  mission,  the  Mission  of  the  Inland 
Sea,  indicates  its  location.  This  sea,  six  hundred  miles  long 
westward  and  eastward,  lies  in  Southern  Japan.  Travelers  say 
no  sea  in  the  world  surpasses  this  for  picturesqueness  and  beauty. 

The  Lambuths,  father  and  son,  displayed  great  wisdom  in 
choosing  this  region  for  our  Church.  For  one  thing,  there  is  no 
overlapping  of  territory  with  other  Methodisms.  It  is  a  fertile 
section,  capable  of  supporting  a  vast  population,  is  now  teeming 
with  people,  having  several  large  cities,  many  smaller  towns,  and 
scores  of  villages.  Osaka  City  has  600,000  people,  and  is  the  sec- 
ond city  in  the  empire  in  domestic  trade  and  shipping.  Kobe  is 
a  large  and  growing  metropolis  of  150,000,  where  ships  from  main- 
countries  trade.  Both  these  cities  are  now  manufacturing  cen- 
ters on  a  large  scale.  Kioto,  the  old  capital,  is  a  city  of  250,000, 
and  is  very  important  as  a  mission  center.  Hiroshima  is  a  city  ot 
90,000  lying  farther  west,  and  is  another  of  our  mission  centers. 

The  Inland  Sea  is  in  itself  the  great  highway  of  ocean  trade  and 
travel  from  America  and  the  Far  East,  and  lies  right  in  the  midst 
of  our  territory. 

BY  no  arbitrary  choice  was  Abram  to  be  the  father  of  a  new 

nation  unto  the  Lord,  for  by  the  law  of  heredity  he  has  transmit- 

Tne  founders,     ted  his  strength  of  character.     Xor  was  there  less  wisdom  in 

O 

calling  Drs.  James  W.  and  W.  R.  Lambuth  out  of  China  into  the 
land  of  the  new  Japan  to  plant  the  Church  under  the  auspices  d 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  With  them  came  a 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN. 


433 


Demands  upon 
the  first 

missionaries. 


third  man,  Rev.  O.  A.  Dukes,  then  an  enthusiastic,  consecrated  NEWTON 
missionary. 

The  senior  Lambnth's  answer  to  Bishop  McTyeire's  letter  was 
characteristic :  "We  thank  you  for  the  determination  to  open 
work  in  Japan.  We  shall  go,  leaning-  on  the  omnipotent  arm  of 
God,  and  seeking  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  After  thirty-two 
years  of  hard  service  in  China,  he  and  his  equally  devoted  wife  ar- 
rived in  Kobe,  July,  1886,  and,  without  a  board,  brick,  or  native 
member,  made  a  start.  Bishop  Wilson,  having  appointed  Dr. 
W.  R.Lambuth  superintendent,  inaugurated  the  mission,  consist- 
ing of  three  missionaries  and  their  wives,  and  started  them  upon 
a  remarkable  career.  The  work  of  those  founders  may  be  char- 
acterized briefly :  (i)  By  flaming  zeal.  Never  was  a  mission  field 
more  rapidly  occupied,  its  strategic  points  seized,  its  lines  run  out, 
than  by  these  missionaries,  who,  flying  as  it  were  upon  wings,  were 
almost  ubiquitous.  (2.)  By  bold  faith;  a  faith  that  expects  great 
things  from  God,  and  attempts  great  things  for  God.  (3)  Fai- 
reaching  plans.  The  whole  field  was  quickly  surveyed,  and  cir- 
cuits and  mission  stations  selected.  (4)  Manifoldness  of  the 
work.  Calls  for  all  sorts  of  work  were  so  promptly  responded  to 
that  it  now  seems  almost  miraculous  that  flesh  and  blood  could  do 
so  many  different  things — teaching  in  the  government  schools, 
night  schools,  traveling  by  rail,  riksha,  and  boat,  by  day  and  by 
night,  receiving  and  entertaining  all  sorts  of  eager,  curious  peo- 
ple, starting  little  Sunday  schools,  Bible  classes,  instructing-  in- 
quirers and  probationers,  teaching  singing,  woman's  sewing. 
knitting,  cooking,  and  tailoring  classes,  preaching  in  inns  and 
theaters,  as  well  as  in  rented  chapels,  writing  and  appealing 
through  newspapers  and  friends  to  the  Church  in  the  home  land. 
All  this,  besides  the  daily  study  of  the  difficult  Japanese  lan- 
guage. As  a  result,  the  Southern  Methodist  Mission  sprang  to 
the  front  so  quickly  as  to  astonish  the  missionaries  of  older  mis- 
sions. The  same  flaming  zeal  of  those  pioneer  missionaries 
seemed  to  inspire  a  like  spirit  in  their  first  Japanese  converts. 

There  was  Sunamoto,  the  converted  sailor,  coming  back  from 
San  Francisco  with  his  heart  all  ablaze,  to  bring  his  people  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  with  fullest  joy  welcoming  the  Jap 
missionaries  to  Hiroshima  City,  and  as  a  flaming  evangelist  corn- 
missioned  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  going  by  boat  from  point  to  point 
on  the  Inland  Sea,  where,  as  a  heathen  pilot,  he  had  been  before. 
And  there  was  Xakayama,  the  young  teacher  of  a  little  school  in 


laborers. 


434 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  difficul- 
ties which 
were  faeed. 


Sacrifices . 


Shobara,  quietly  but  earnestly  longing-  for  the  light,  who  wel- 
comed Dr.  Lambuth  to  his  town,  receiving  him  in  his  room  with 
his  New  Testament,  from  which,  without  teacher  or  preacher,  he 
had  been  trying  to  learn  what  the  gospel  is.  One  of  our  first 
theological  students,  he  was  the  first  of  our  Japanese  preachers  to 
die.  Only  forty-eight  hours  before  his  death  he  said  in  a  feeble, 
but  distinct  voice,  with  tears  streaming:  "I  trust  in  the  Lord." 

And  there  was  our  dear  Yoshioka,  of  whom  we  hope  to  speak 
later.  The  full  story  of  the  founding  and  upbuilding  of  our  mis- 
sion, its  joys  and  successes,  its  trials  and  toils,  cannot  be  told  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  by  the  year  1892  such  had  been  its  remarkable 
progress  that  Bishop  Key,  with  the  approval  of  the  Mission 
Board,  organized  the  Japan  Mission  Conference,  with  three  pre- 
siding elders'  districts.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  mission  in  Asia, 
started  with  nothing,  ever  attained  in  so  short  a  time  such  magni- 
tude and  maturity  of  growth. 

But  let  no  one  suppose  the  rapid  success  of  our  Japan  work 
was  achieved  without  difficulty  and  without  arduous  toil.  With 
all  the  attractions  and  advantages  which  Japan  as  a  mission  field 
has,  the  difficulties  have  been  greater  and  the  strain  on  the  work- 
ers much  severer  than  has  generally  been  believed.  On  account 
of  the  hisfh  tension  there  have  been  times  when  the  head  and 

o 

heart,  nerves  and  all,  were  almost  breaking.  The  high  pressure  of 
speed  naturally  put  double  strain  on  the  force  so  inadequate  to 
meet  the  demands. 

Not  now  a  member  of  the  Japan  Mission,  I  must  say  this,  that 
from  the  first  the  demands  of  the  work  were  so  great  and  the 
appropriations  of  the  Mission  Board  so  short  on  account  of  poor 
collections  in  the  Churches  here  in  America,  that  the  missionaries 
had  to  carry  a  heavy  financial  burden  in  sustaining  the  work. 
Nor  is  it  known  that  most  of  the  early  missionaries  sent  out  by 
our  Church  supported  themselves  by  teaching  in  government 
schools,  studying  the  language,  and  doing  heavy  missionary  work 
besides.  This  writer  was  not  one  of  them,  and  therefore  speaks 
no  word  of  self-praise. 

Nor  is  it  generally  known  again  that  three  years  ago,  the  breth- 
ren no  longer  able  to  carry  so  heavy  a  burden,  seventeen  chapels 
had  to  be  closed  from  sheer  lack  of  funds.  But  this  painful  exi- 
gency was  not  due  to  any  lack  of  zeal  or  liberality  of  the  Japanese 
Christians,  for  they  have  ever  been  forward  to  give,  and  some- 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN.  435 

times  beyond  their  meager  means.     Self-support  was  from  the   NE 
first  emphasized. 

I  cannot  restrain  myself  from  speaking  of  the  extreme  difficul- 
ties and  long  delays  experienced  in  the  upbuilding  of  our  two 
girls'  schools.  There  was  the  Hiroshima  Girls'  School,  and  Miss  rhe 
Gaines  was  the  long  and  silent  sufferer.  But  the  heroine  she  is,  schools, 
she  has  been  abundantly  rewarded  for  all  those  years  of  hard  toil 
and  difficulty.  The  other  was  the  Lambuth  Bible  and  Training 
School,  in  Kobe,  which  is  a  monument  to  Mrs.  M.  I.  Lambuth's 
perseverance  and  suffering.  Often  have  I  felt  that  it  was  a 
burning  shame  that  she,  after  having  toiled  for  forty  years  in  the 
Orient,  and  now  in  her  declining  years  and  failing  strength, 
should  be  allowed  to  make  her  bricks  without  straw,  and  furnish 
much  of  the  mortar,  while  hundreds  of  high  ladies  were  here  at 
home  living  in  luxury  and  wasting  their  Lord's  money.  But  T 
am  glad  that  at  last  her  school  has  found  a  permanent  place  where 
to  rest  the  soles  of  its  feet.  Year  before  last  new  buildings  were 
finished  and  dedicated  to  the  training  of  Japanese  girls  in  Bible 
work  and  in  industrial  and  domestic  arts. 

But  what  of  the  present  hour  and  future  outlook  ? 

As  indicated  in  the  first  of  this  paper,  the  reactionary  wave  of 
the  antiforeign  feeling  that  passed  over  the  nation  affected  our 
own  field  as  it  did  all  others,  though  there  has  been  steady  prog- 
ress.  Indeed,  in  our  own  mission  and  Church  there  has  been  outlook 
less  evil,  not  only  from  the  rationalistic  reaction,  but  also  from 
hurtful  influences  of  liberalism  and  atheism  imported  from 
America  and  Europe. 

So  that  there  is  much  to  encourage  and  little  to  discourage, 
provided  we  do  our  duty.  We  have  out  there  a  well-organized 
Mission  Conference,  several  self-supporting  Churches,  a  well- 
seasoned  body  of  missionaries,  consecrated  in  spirit,  soul,  and 
body  to  their  Master;  but  they  are  too  few  for  the  work  put  upon 
them.  It  is  poor  economy.  There  is,  too,  a  small  body  of  Japa- 
nese preachers  who  are,  for  the  most  part,  well  trained,  and  are 
preaching  a  present  conscious  salvation.  They  need  our  sympa- 
thy and  support.  They  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

There  are  two  girls'  schools.  The  Hiroshima  school  was  never 
in  finer  condition.  Everv  department  is  full  to  overflowing1  mak- 

.  j.  £51 

ing  a  total  actual  attendance  of  over  four  hundred  pupils.  It 
has  a  great  future.  The  Lambuth  Bible  and  Training  School 
is  now  in  condition  to  go  forward  upon  its  mission  of  training- 


43^ 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  Kwansei 
Gakuin. 


Prominent 
Christians. 


Japanese  women  for  effective  woman's  work  in  the  Church,  and 
for  intelligent,  Christian  home  life. 

Our  Mission  College  and  Biblical  Seminary  at  Kobe,  the 
Kwansei  Gakuin,  is  a  child  of  faith  and  providence.  The  ground 
was  bought  by  Dr.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  then  the  superintendent, 
when  there  was  not  a  dollar  in  hand  or  in  sight.  This  institution, 
from  its  very  foundation,  both  in  the  Collegiate  and  Biblical  De- 
partments, has  had  a  very  high  ideal,  both  of  religious  and  also  of 
intellectual  culture,  and  is  has  filled  a  much-needed  place.  It  is 
one  of  the  schools  which  Prof.  Frank  Muller.  of  the  Naval  Col- 
lege of  Japan,  spoke  of  as  an  ''out-and-out  Christian  school."  But 
it  needs  more  men  in  the  teaching  staff ;  it  needs  endowment  also. 
This  school  has  suffered.  You  need  to  send  more  men  to  that 
institution  like  Wainright  of  the  Collegiate,  and  Haden  of  the 
Biblical  Department — that  is,  if  you  can  find  them. 

And  what  of  the  field  in  general  and  what  of  the  future?  Ja- 
pan is  not  a  Christian  nation,  but  by  the  new  treaties  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  gospel  have  the  right  of  way  throughout  the 
empire,  and  therefore  the  work  should  be  pushed  with  all  pos- 
sible energy. 

Japan  is  not  a  Christian  nation,  but  Christian  faith  and  disci- 
pleship  are  respected  by  the  people,  and  are  no  barrier  to  high  of- 
ficial position  in  the  government.  One  of  the  Supreme  Court 
Judges  is  a  professing  Christian,  and  the  presidents  of  two  ses- 
sions of  the  national  parliament  were  Christians  appointed  by  the 
sovereign.  Japan  is  not  a  Christian  nation,  but  Bishop  AYilson, 
speaking  of  the  great  Missionary  Conference  recently  held  in 
Tokyo,  says  :  ''There  was  quite  as  much  freedom  combined  with 
the  utmost  respect  for  'the  powers  that  be,'  in  the  statement  of 
relations  between  the  missions  and  the  government  as  there 
would  have  been  in  a  similar  assembly  in  the  United  States." 
Some  of  the  government  officials  extended  personal  recognition 
to  the  body.  As  for  the  populace,  lie  says  :  "It  was  friendly,  at 
least  not  hostile;  there  were  no  threatening  crowds,  no  epithets 
for  foreigners  upon  the  streets  of  the  great  capital  city." 

Hardly  more  than  a  generation  ago  Japan  was  at  one  with  the 
tumult,  disorder,  and  murder  oi  foreigners  that  have  so  lately  pre- 
vailed just  across  the  narrow  sea  in  China.  But  behold  how  far 
away  and.  in  advance  of  all  that  is  the  new  Japan  of  to-day! 

Japan  is  yet  a  Christlcss  nation,  and  lately  the  Minister  of  Edu- 
cation has  been  intcrmeddlincr  with  our  mission  schools,  but  the 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN.  437 

answer  we  ought  to  give  him  is  the  planting  of  the  out-and-out  NEWTON. 

Christian  University  in  Tokyo.     Let  all  the  evangelical  Churches 

of  America  and  Great  Britain  join  together  to  establish  a  modem,  A        t  nnl_ 

thoroughly  equipped  university  in  the  Japanese  capital.     It  can  varsity 

be  done ;  it  ought  to  be  done.     Gospel  truth,  Christian  princi-  needed- 

pies  at  the  top  as  well  as  at  the  bottom  of  society,  is  what  Japan 

needs.     And  her  brightest  students  would  crowd  its  halls. 

The  Japanese  are  Orientals,  and  yet  have  a  national  genius  like; 
the  Western  races.  They  are  patriotic,  chivalric.  and  aesthetic; 
they  are  quick,  lively,  open-eyed,  progressive.  It  seems  to  us 
that  Divine  Providence  has  intended  this  nation  to  be  the  bridge 
connecting  the  Occident  and  Orient. 

By  national  genius,  by  geographical  position,  and  by  commer- 
cial relations  with  the  Continent,  Japan  when  once  made  Chris-   The  future  of 
tian    will    become,    not    only    the    political    reformer,    commer-  japan, 
cial  distributer,  but  also  the  evangelizer  of  Eastern  Asia.     It  is 
not  generally  known  that  at  one  period  in  their  history  the  Japa- 
nese came  nigh  being  the  great  maritime  and  colonizing-  power  of 
all  the  Orient.     The  same  spirit  still  lives. 

Japan  has  the  advantage  of  a  singular  affiliation  with  the  Chris- 
tian nations.  She  already  commands  recognition  in  the  inter- 
national affairs  of  the  far  East,  and  it  may  be  we  shall  have  to  look 
to  her  to  confront  the  Russian  bear  in  his  ravenous  invasions  of 
Eastern  Asia.  Not  only  is  there  this  singular  national  affiliation, 
but  with  America  particularly  there  are  the  closest  bonds.  She 
is,  in  a  sense,  our  pupil ;  has  sent  at  least  six  thousand  of  her  best 
students  to  study  in  our  colleges  and  universities  ;  has  received 
more  from  us  than  from  any  other  nation,  and  her  people  respect 
our  people  more.  Japan's  future  is  at  once  our  opportunity  and 
responsibility. 

Sitting  the  other  day  in  the  Portsmouth  ferry  house,  a  young 
Episcopal  minister,  who  had  been  horn  in  Shanghai,  quoted  these 
words:  "When  the  unclean  spirit  is  gone  out  of  man,  he  walketh 

through  drv  places,  seeking-  rest,  and  fin-loth  none.     Then   he   Pe  empty 

.    •  .  house, 

saith,  T  will  return  unto  mv  house  from  whence  1  came  out :  and 

when  he  is  come,  he  findeth  it  cir.pt v,  swept,  and  garnished.  Then 
gocth  he  and  taketh  with  himself  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked 
than  himself,  and  they  enter  in  r<ml  dwell  there  :  and  the  last  state 
of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first."  And  Japan  is  now  casting 
out  and  emptying  her  house  of  her  ancient  superstitions  and 
heathen  notions.  It  is  for  us  to  enter  and  occupy  the  house  with 


438 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Possibilities 
in  tie  Orient. 


Capabilities  oJ 
the  Japanese. 


the  gospel  and  faith  of  Christ ;  but  if  we  do  not,  all  the  seven  spir- 
its of  modern  unbelief  will  surely  enter  in,  and  the  last  state  of  the 
new  Japan^vill  be  worse  than  the  old.  How  momentous,  then,  is 
the  work  of  Christian  missions  to  Japan.  Delivered  from  hea- 
thenism, will  she  become  a  nation  of  Christians  or  atheists?  The 
American  Church  must  make  the  answer. 

The  Japanese  nation  occupies  a  place  of  strategic  importance 
for  China  and  Korea.  As  it  goes  in  Japan,  it  will  go  much  the 
same  in  China  and  Korea.  If  this  nation  be  Christianized,  it  will 
help  immensely  to  Christianize  them  ;  but  if  Japan  should  crystal- 
lize into  scientific  materialism  and  religious  indifference,  much  of 
our  work  in  China  will  be  turned  to  naught.  Why  so  ? 

1.  Japan  is  already  far  in  advance  of  China.     Forty  years  ago 
a  nonentity  in  international  affairs,  she  has  now  won  a  recognized 
place  of  po\ver  in  all  the  international  movements  of  the  far 
East.     She  is  bound,  therefore,  to  exert  a  powerful  influence 
upon  China  in  the  future. 

2.  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water.''     Their  racial  affinities  as 
Asiatics  will  cause  the  Japanese  to  make  common  cause  finally 
with  the  Chinese. 

3.  What  God  hath  ordained  man  need  not  try  to  change  or 
undo.     Now  the  God  of  nature  and  of  history,  who  is,  at  the  same 
time,  the  God  of  revelation  and  redemption,  hath  ordained  for 
Japan  a  peculiar  place  of  power  in  the  destiny  of  Eastern  Asia. 
How  do  we  know?     Simply  look  at  the  map  and  call  up  your  his- 
tory. 

This  remarkable  people  with  their  remarkable  career  of  the 
past  forty  years  God  has  placed  on  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude 
and  has  separated  them  from  the  continent,  but  left  them  close  by. 
That  insular  separation  has  already  brought  Japan  into  extraor- 
dinary relationship  with  America,  and  yet  it  never  has  and  never 
will  break  down  the  living  bridge  that  joins  the  Japanese  to  the 
rest  of  Asia. 

4.  The  Japanese  have  already  proved  two  things  :  that  they  are 
good  organizers  and  good  fighters.     This  is  not  theory ;  it  is  fact. 
And  a  people  who  have  good  organizing  capacity  and  who  fight 
well  are  bound  to  be  strong  either  in  peace  or  war.     Such  a  peo- 
ple cannot  be  thrown  into  the  background  of  the  world's  move- 
ments. 

5.  The  native  Church  in  Japan,  young  as  it  is,  has  produced 
many  leaders  whose  character  and  strength  of  influence  are  of  a 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS    IN    JAPAN.  439 


NEWTON. 


high  order.  In  no  mission  Church  in  the  world  has  the  native 
ministry  come  so  quickly  to  the  front  and  won  a  position  of  such 
influence  and  direction  amongst  the  missionaries.  Call  the  roll  Leaders 
of  such  men  as  Neesima,  Paul  Sawayama,  Miagawa,  Honda, 
Ando,  Ibuka,  Uemura,  and  Yoshioka,  and  every  one  of  these 
men  would  be  given  a  positive  position  anywhere.  It  guarantees 
aggressive  character  to  the  native  Japanese  Church  of  the  future. 

6.  The  great  leaders  of  the  English  Church  see  clearly  that 
Japan   holds   a   place   of   strategic   importance.     That   historic 
Church,  with  its  missionary  work  in  all  lands  which  challenges 
admiration  and  generous  rivalry,  is  pushing  a  fixed  policy  of  ex- 
pansion by  heavy  reinforcements  of  men  and  resources.     The 
whole  country  has  been  marked  off  into  seven  dioceses,  with 
seven  bishops.     The  consequence  is  the  Episcopal  Church  is    A  policy 
rapidly  forging  ahead.     For  years  I  have  coveted  for  Episcopal 
Methodism  a  large  place  in  Japan,  for  undoubedly  the  Epicopal 
polity  is  best  suited  to  the  genius  of  that  nation,  but  we  are  push- 
ing our  work  too  slowly  and  supporting  it  too  meagerly  for  the 

great  demands  of  that  field. 

7.  Listening  to  the  speeches  at  this  Conference,  we  have  all 
been  reminded  that  the  situation  in  China  has  involved  a  conflict 
of  arms.    Brute  force  has  been  appealed  to  in  the  conflict  between 
the  civilization  of  the  Western  nations  and  that  of  Asia.     But  in 
Japan  it  is  not  so;  it  is  not  a  battle  of  fleshly  strife  and  blood  with 
guns  and  warships.     It  is  a  conflict  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  force- 
between  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  powers  of  evil  of  Sa- 
tan's kingdom,  a  battle  waged  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  for  the 
setting  up  of  Christ's  kingdom  of  light  and  love  in  the  thoughts 
and  hearts  of  men.     Western  infidelity,  taking  refuge  in  Japan 
and  making  common  cause  with  the  paganism  of  Asia  against  the 
Son  of  God,  throws  down  the  gage  of  final  battle.     But  we  will 
rout  them  all :  and  Jesus  Christ,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  will 
make  Japan  in  truth  "The  Sunrise  Kingdom." 

S.  The  schools  and  the  students  of  the  new  Japan  have  undis- 
puted sway  in  the  future  attitude  of  the  nation  toward  the  truth. 
As  it  goes  in  the  school  it  will  go  much  the  same  way  with  the 
nation.  How  momentous,  then,  is  the  work  of  Christianizing  the 
educated  classes.  Xot  only  so.  but  the  thought  and  spirit  of  this 
new  generation  of  scholars  will  lie  reflected  in  the  thought  and 
spirit  of  China  and  Korea. 


V.   KOREA. 

THE  KOREA  MISSION. 

REV.    J.    R.    MOOSE. 

A  REVIEW  of  the  progress  of  our  work  in  Korea  is  indeed 
enough  to  fill  our  hearts  with  gratitude  to  Him  who  has  called  us 
to  labor  in  his  vineyard. 

It  was  in  August,  1894,  that  Dr.  C.  F.  Reid  came  to  Korea  for 
the  purpose  of  beginning  our  work.  It  is  true  that  he  had  been 
here  before  and  made  some  preliminary  arrangements,  but  he 
did  not  move  here  until  the  above-mentioned  date,  which  marks 
the  beginning  of  a  work  in  this  land  which  from  the  very  first  has 
had  upon  it  the  unmistakable  marks  of  divine  favor. 

As  with  all  missionaries  entering  a  new  field,  Dr.  Reid,  not- 
withstanding his  long  service  in  China,  was  compelled  to  take  up 
the  study  of  a  new  language,  and  by  no  means  an  easy  one.     He 
History.  succeeded  so  well  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  mission  that  its 

growth  has  been  nothing  short  of  marvelous.  The  most  hope- 
ful person  would  not  have  prophesied  such  rapid  growth  in  so 
short  a  time.  The  work  was  planned  and  started  on  a  broad 
scale,  considering  the  smallness  of  the  force  in  the  field,  and  it 
has  since  been  conducted  on  the  same  lines. 

In  January,  1897,  Rev.  C.  T.  Collyer  entered  the  mission,  thus 
giving  the  much-needed  reenforcement,  though  he  too  had  the 
problem  of  the  language  to  contend  with.  In  May,  1898,  Dr.  R. 
A.  Hardie  came  to  our  mission,  and.  having  been  engaged  in  mis- 
sion work  in  this  country  for  a  number  of  years,  was  well  up  in 
the  language,  thus  being  qualified  for  effective  work  from  the  be- 
ginning. In  September,  1899,  the  writer  came,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  the  study  of  the  language  and  doing  such  other  work 
as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances.  In  the  spring  of  1899, 
on  account  of  his  health,  Dr.  Reid  was  compelled  to  return  to  the 
United  States,  thus  bringing  a  great  loss  to  the  mission. 

It  has  seemed  well  to  give  this  bit  of  history,  that  one  may  the 
better  understand  what  the  Lord  has  been  and  is  now  doing 
through  our  mission  in  this  land. 


THE    KOREA    MISSION.  44! 

The  Korea  District  embraces  all  the  central  part  of  Korea,  ex-   MOOSE. 
tending  from  sea  to  sea,  and  containing  territory  enough  to  make 
a  good-sized  Annual  Conference.     There  is  a  perfect  understand- 
ing between  the  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and      oper 
our  mission,  so  that  we  are  not  setting  altar  against  altar,  but  we 
are  working  in  harmony,  trying  to  take  the  land  for  Methodism 
and  all  that  it  stands  for.     We  have  not  tried  to  make  the  city  of 
Seoul  the  center  of  our  work,  but  rather  a  center  from  which  to 
work.     We  now  have  two  classes  in  Seoul,  but  our  greatest  suc- 
cess has  been  in  the  country  towns  and  villages. 

There  are  now  three  stations  in  the  district :  Seoul,  Songdo, 
and  Wonsan.  The  circuits  of  which  these  stations  are  the  cen- 
ters arc  each  large  enough,  if  extended  to  their  proper  limits,  for 
a  presiding  elder's  district.  The  Seoul  Circuit  has  nine  societies, 

with  two  hundred  and  fortv-three  communicants  and  one  hundred 

„.      ,-,  „,.         .    ,  ,  Three  circuits 

and  ninety-seven  probationers.    1  he  Songdo  Circuit  has  fifty-four  and  their 

communicants  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  probationers,  statistics. 
Total  number  of  communicants,  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven; 
total  number  of  probationers,  three  hundred  and  twenty-one ; 
total  number  of  adherents,  not  including  baptized  children,  six 
hundred  and  twelve.  When  we  look  at  these  figures,  well  may 
we  exclaim  :  "What  hath  God  wrought !" 

The  Wonsan  Circuit  has  no  organized  classes,  the  field  having 
just  been  entered  by  Dr.  Hardie,  who  moved  there  in  December, 
1900.  There  is  a  large  territory  in  easy  reach  of  this  station 
which  is  now  occupied  by  Methodism,  and  we  hope  to  see  at  no 
distant  day  a  very  strong  circuit  on  this  coast.  It  is  about  two 
hundred  miles  from  Seoul  to  Wonsan,  which  is  the  principal  sea- 
port on  the  eastern  coast  of  Korea.  These  two  cities  are  con- 
nected by  perhaps  what  is  the  best  road  in  the  kingdom,  but  even 
this  is  little  better  than  a  bridle  path.  Along-  the  road  there  are  a 
number  of  villages  where  the  people  are  interested,  and  the  out- 
look for  some  strong  Churches  is  good. 

Songdo  is  worthy  of  more  than  a  passing  notice.  Tt  is  the  sec- 
ond largest  citv  in  the  countrv,  and  one  of  the  ancient  capitals, 
the  population  now  being  about  sixty  thousand.  The  city  is  en- 
tirely open  to  us.  there  being'  no  other  denominations  at  work,  ex- 
cept the  Roninnists,  who  have  recently  entered.  From  the  be- 
ginning this  work  has  been  under  the  care  of  Rev.  C.  T.  Collyer, 
and  the  above-quoted  figures  show  how  well  he  is  succeeding'. 
The  most  pressing  need  of  flu's  circuit  is  a  new  church  building  for 


442 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


An  Ludustri-1 
school.    Inter- 
est of  the 
Koreans. 


The  open  doo.s 
and  the  hin- 
drances. 


the  city.  The  people  are  making  an  honest  effort  to  help  them- 
selves, but  they  are  not  able  to  build  such  a  church  as  the  situation 
demands.  They  are  contributing  to  the  building  fund  with  a  will- 
ing hand,  but  the  Board  must  come  to  their  help  before  the  work 
can  be  accomplished.  It  is  in  this  city  that  we  hope  in  tiv:  near 
future  to  open  an  industrial  school,  for  the  founding  of  which  two 
Korean  gentlemen  have  given  $1,000,  United  States  currency. 
This  money  is  now  in  bank,  and  we  are  waiting  for  more  to  be 
added  to  it.  If  some  one  of  our  brethren  in  the  United  States 
wants  to  build  for  himself  a  monument  that  will  last  through  all 
time,  and  contribute  much  in  lifting  a  people  out  of  sin  and  dark- 
ness, now  is  the  time  and  this  is  the  place — the  Songdo  Industrial 
School.  Five  or  ten  thousand  dollars  invested  in  this  school 
would  doubtless  yield  a  most  bountiful  income  in  the  way  of  en- 
lightened minds  and  trained  hands,  and  these  in  turn  would  prove 
to  be  an  untold  blessing  to  their  fellow-countrymen.  There  is 
perhaps  no  other  line  of  educational  work  that  could  be  done  in 
this  country  that  would  be  such  a  power  for  good  as  this  indus- 
trial training.  Let  it  be  thoroughly  understood,  however,  that 
the  first  and  last  object  shall  ever  be  to  lead  young  men  and  boys 
to  Christ.  If  this  one  idea  should  be  lost  sight  of,  then  the  soon- 
er we  get  out  of  the  field  the  better  for  all  concerned.  Our  first 
object  is  to  make  Christians ;  after  this  has  been  accomplished, 
then  we  desire  to  improve  the  conditions  of  everyday  life.  This, 
we  believe,  can  best  be  done  by  the  training  of  both  mind  and 
hand. 

We  have  much  to  thank  God  for  in  the  way  of  open  doors.  The 
people  are  kind  to  us,  and  willing  to  hear  the  gospel,  even  if  they 
are  not  always  ready  to  accept  it  on  the  first  hearing.  Now  is  the 
time  to  get  in  our  best  work  while  the  tide  is  in  our  favor.  Xo  one 
can  tell  what  a  few  years  may  bring  to  this  country.  There  may 
be  political  reaction,  and  the  good  feeling  now  existing  toward 
the  missionaries  be  turned  into  a  spirit  of  hatred,  as  in  some  parts 
of  China.  I  feel  sure  that  this  would  never  come  about,  if  none 
but  the  missionaries  were  here  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  The  men 
of  the  world  are  turning  to  Korea  to  find  sale  for  their  wares, 
which  are  not  always  of  the  sort  that  will  prove  a  blessing  to  those 
that  buy  them. 

There  arc  groups  of  believers  springing  up  all  over  our  terri- 
tory, even  in  places  that  have  not  been  visited  by  a  missionary, 
but  only  by  the  native  helpers.  At  some  of  these  places  the  peo- 


THE    KOREA    MISSION.  443 

pie  have  bought  chapels  for  themselves  without  even  the  knowl-  MOOSE- 
edge  of  the  missionary. 

The  Woman's  Board  has  a  fine  start  here.  They  have  been 
very  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  workers  for  this  field.  Mrs.  J. 
P.  Campbell,  Miss  Fannie  Hinds,  and  Miss  Arrena  Carroll  are 
the  workers  under  this  Board,  and  they  are  doing  a  noble  work 
amongst  the  women  and  girls  of  Seoul  and  Songdo.  It  may  be 
said  that  the  wives  of  the  missionaries  are  also  rendering  assist- 
ance in  this  work  of  lifting  up  their  fallen  sisters. 

Mrs.  Campbell  is  in  charge  of  the  Carolina  Institute  for  girls 
in  the  city  of  Seoul  This  is  a  boarding  school,  and  is  now  full  of 
girls  who  will  soon  go  out  to  take  their  places  in  the  work  of 
bringing  about  the  emancipation  of  woman  in  this  sin-cursed 
land. 


III. 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


I  THE  INDIANS. 

II.  THE  GERMANS. 

III.  THE  NEGROES. 

IV.  HOME  MISSIONS. 


/.    THE  INDIANS. 


WORK  AMONG  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS. 

REV.    J.    J.    METHVIK. 

No  sickly  sentiment  have  I  to  indulge  concerning  the  Indian. 
In  nature  he  is  but  a  duplicate  of  his  ''paleface  brother."  Total 
depravity  is  a  fact,  and  he  is  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  in- 
stead of  "the  noble  red  man  of  the  forest,"  of  whom  we  read  in 
fiction,  we  have  but  an  ignoble  savage,  till  grace  converts  the 
savage  into  a  saint,  which  it  often  does.  Be  sickly  sentiment 
indulged  where  stern  realities  demand  that  wisdom  give  direction 
to  action,  disappointment  inevitably  follows,  and  disgust  causes 
rebound  to  opposite  extremes.  That  has  been  the  history  of 
much  of  the  work  enterprised  by  the  people  of  this  country  in 
behalf  of  the  Indian,  and  therefore  spasmodic  has  been  much 
of  the  effort,  with  corresponding  results. 

Drake  says:  "Notwithstanding  one  of  the  ostensible  objects  of 
nearly  all  the  royal  charters  and  grants  issued  for  British  North 
America  was  the  Christianizing  of  the  Indian,  few  could  be  found 
equal  to  the  task  on  arriving  here." 

McTyeire  says  in  his  "History  of  Methodism,"  "John  and 
Charles  Wesley  came  to  America  to  convert  the  Indian,  but  died 
without  the  sight ;"  and  we  are  accustomed  to  hearing  sounded 
in  our  ears  to  this  day  "failure  of  the  Indian  work."  But,  not- 
withstanding this,  the  history  of  the  Indian  missions  enterprised 
by  the  Church,  where  faithful  work  has  been  done,  forms  one  of 
the  brightest  chapters  in  the  history  of  missions.  If  from  time  to 
time  there  has  been  decline  and  seeming  failure,  the  cause  may 
be  easily  traced  and  brought  to  light.  It  will  be  necessary,  there- 
fore, in  this  paper  to  trace  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Indian 
work,  show  its  success,  point  out  the  cause  of  decline  where  it 
has  occurred,  the  hindrances  that  now  exist,  indicate  our  present 
duty  and  a  future  policy. 

About  1634,  some  forty-two  years  after  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, the  Jesuits  began  missionary  work  among  the  Hurons  and 
Iroquois  around  the  Great  Lakes.  Theirs  was  a  heroic  spirit, 


il;s  Indian  as 
he  is. 


~ome  history. 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  Wesleys. 


Brainerd. 


Work  of 
Methodists. 


and  had  they  sown  the  country  down  in  Bibles  and  Bible  truth, 
instead  of  a  superstitious  devotion  to  Romanism  and  France,  they 
could  have  held  every  foot  of  ground  they  went  over.  But  after 
nearly  twenty  years  of  heroic  and  unparalleled  effort,  they  saw 
their  hopes  struck  down,  their  faith  wavered,  and  they  abandoned 
the  field.  In  1646,  while  yet  the  Jesuits  lingered  on  the  field, 
John  Eliot,  called  the  Apostle  of  the  Indians,  in  the  fullness  of 
zeal  and  with  an  undaunted  faith,  began  missionary  work  at 
Natick,  in  Massachusetts.  Such  was  his  spirit  and  purpose  that 
great  success  accompanied  his  efforts  and  the  efforts  of  those 
who  followed  him,  so  that  in  spite  of  continuous  tribal  wars  and 
other  hindrances  there  were,  in  1696,  in  New  England  towns, 
no  less  than  thirty  Indian  Churches,  with  a  large  number  of 
converts.  During  that  time  Roger  \Yilliams  wrote :  "It  cannot 
be  hid  how  all  England  and  other  nations  ring  with  the  glorious 
conversion  of  the  Indians  of  New  England."  A  wonderful  revolu- 
tion had  come,  to  be  stayed  only  by  the  future  unfaithfulness 
of  the  Church  and  aggressiveness  of  the  border  white  man,  who 
regarded  neither  morals  nor  property  rights  of  the  Indian. 

In  1/36  John  and  Charles  AYesley,  with  Ingham  and  Delamotte 
as  colaborers,  came  to  America,  landing  at  Savannah  April  6, 
for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  Indian.  Ingham  built  a  house 
for  a  school  at  Cowpens,  near  Savannah,  which  he  named 
"Irene."  But  these  missionaries  within  two  years  returned  to 
England,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  this  enterprise. 

Eight  years  later  David  Brainerd  began  work  at  the  forks  of 
the  Delaware.  Such  was  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  this  frail  man 
that  glorious  results  followed  his  efforts  and  many  Indians  were 
converted.  In  1/54,  after  ten  years  of  faithful  work  and  corre- 
sponding success,  Brainerd  died  and  his  brother  John  succeeded 
him.  Thomas  Rankin  tells  us  that  in  1774  he  met  John  Brainerd, 
who  gave  him  a  doleful  account  of  the  dissipation  of  his  brother's 
work  by  reason  of  the  influence  of  the  border  white  man  and  his 
liquor. 

The  Moravians,  who  are  always  abreast  of  the  foremost  in  mis- 
sion work,  began  during  this  period  several  Indian  missions,  and 
pursued  them  with  great  success. 

Irregular  and  spasmodic  efforts  were  made  by  different  organi- 
zations among  the  various  tribes,  with  results  corresponding  to 
the  efforts  made:  but  not  till  1819  was  anything  done  by  our 
Church  bevond  an  occasional  visit  by  our  circuit  preachers  to 


WORK    AMONG    INDIANS.  449 

Indian  villages  at  irregular  times.  During  that  year  the  Ohio  >'KT"V'*- 
Conference  sent  James  Montgomery,  under  J.  B.  Findley,  a 
North  Carolinian,  as  presiding  elder,  to  follow  up  the  work  so 
successfully  begun  in  1815  among  the  \\yandottes  by  John 
Stewart,  a  colored  convert  of  Marietta,  Ohio,  who  had  come 
from  Powhatan  County,  Va.  This  negro  was  a  drunken  sot,  and 
in  the  craze  of  drink  one  day  started  to  the  river  to  drown  him- 
self. Passing  by  where  Marcus  Lindsey,  a  Methodist  preacher, 
was,  under  the  presence  of  the  Spirit,  setting  forth  the  power  of 
Jesus  to  save,  his  attention  was  arrested,  and  as  he  listened  the 
truth  and  power  of  God's  word  took  hold  upon  him  and  he  was 
converted.  Soon  after,  he  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him :  "You 
must  go  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to  the  Indian  nation,  and 
tell  the  savage  tribes  of  Christ,  your  Saviour."  In  obedience  to 
this  call  he  went  to  the  upper  Sandusky,  and  found  the  Wyan- 
dottes,  to  whom  he  proclaimed  the  glad  news  of  salvation.  The 
results  following  his  labors  may  be  recorded  as  one  of  the  miracles 
of  missions.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Methodist  missions 
among  Indians,  for  it  was  this  work  that  the  Ohio  Conference, 
in  1819,  took  under  its  care,  and  of  which,  in  1821,  J.  B.  Findley 
was  made  superintendent. 

About  this  time  two  more  Indian  missions  were  begun,  one 
among  the  Mohawks,  which,  in  a  little  while,  met  with  most  glo- 
rious success,  and  multitudes  were  converted.  The  Spirit's  power 
was  manifest  among  them,  and  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save  was 

shown  in  the  reformed  habits  of  the  people  and  in  their  con-- 
Mohawks. 

sistent  lives.  The  other  mission  was  among  the  Creeks,  in 
Georgia.  Dr.  Capers  (afterwards  bishop)  was  superintendent, 
with  Isaac  Smith  missionary.  This  was  established  under  diffi- 
culties, and  such  was  the  opposition  from  some  of  the  obdurate 
chiefs,  encouraged  by  the  United  States  agent,  that  after  a  feu- 
years  it  was  suspended,  to  be  renewed  Inter  on. 

During  the  spring  of  1822.  through  the  invitation  of  Richard 
Riley,  an  intelligent  Cherokee,  a  young  preacher  of  the  Tennes- 
see Conference.  R'chard  Xeely.  whose  circuit  embraced  several 
Indian  villages,  visited  and  preached  to  the  Cherokee  people. 
During  his  first  visit  thirty-three  were  converted  and  joined  the 
Church.  This  was  the  beginning  of  great  and  prosperous  work 
among"  the  Cherokee?,  which  has  continued  to  this  day,  together 
with  work  among  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws. 

But  time  and  space  would  fail  me  in  this  brief  paper  to  tell  of 
in 


450 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


In  Illinois  and 
elsewhere. 


Organization  • 
the  Indian 
Mission  Con- 
ference. 


.,me  poi: 


the  Pottawatomie  Mission,  in  Illinois,  under  Jesse  Walker,  in 
1823 ;  of  the  conversion  of  a  fragment  of  the  Wyandottes  in  Up- 
per Canada,  and  of  the  wonderful  conversion  of  the  Mississaugas, 
who  were  the  most  degraded  and  besotted  of  all  the  tribes ;  of  the 
Oneidas,  the  Shawnees,  the  Kickapoos,  the  Kansans,  and  other 
tribes  extending  from  Canada  to  the  extreme  South ;  and  of  the 
great  work  among  the  Oregon  Indians  on  the  Pacific  coast,  in 
1839,  when,  in  a  short  while,  not  less  than  a  thousand  were  most 
gloriously  converted — "a  reformation,"  says  Bangs,  "so  sudden, 
deep,  and  wide,  among  such  a  people  as  had  not  been  known  in 
modern  days ;"  and  of  all  the  work  done  and  the  conquests  gained 
down  to  1844.  A  rich  legacy  was  left  as  a  common  heritage  to 
both  branches  of  our  Methodism  down  to  that  date,  and  of  equal 
interest  to  both.  During  that  year  the  Indian  Mission  Confer- 
ence was  organized,  and  in  the  division  of  the  Church  it  re- 
mained with  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  the  responsibility  of 
the  continued  evangelization  of  the  Indians  included  in  its  terri- 
tory was  placed  upon  us.  How  have  we  met  the  obligation,  and 
how  are  we  meeting  it  now?  are  questions  that  concern  us. 

From  the  beginning  God  owned  this  work  under  our  ministry, 
and  during  the  first  year,  although  a  year  of  agitation,  there  was 
great  increase,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  membership 
ran  up  to  its  thousands.  It  would  be  a  profitable  and  thrilling 
chapter  to  show  in  detail  the  results  of  missionary  labors  among 
these  tribes  on  down  through  the  years  of  hardships  and  hin- 
drances. Thousands  have  been  brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ, 
lived  consistent  lives,  died  triumphantly,  and,  going  home,  have 
left  to  the  Church  a  rich  and  glorious  legacy  of  faith  and  good 
works — men  and  women  of  saintly  character  and  seraphic  ardor, 
molded  under  the  gospel's  power,  a  benediction  to  the  race. 
Aside  from  the  thousands  who  have  been  brought  to  Christ, 
many  of  whom  have  crossed  the  flood,  many  of  whom  linger  on 
the  field  of  action,  it  is  worth  all  that  has  ever  been  expended  to 
have  produced  such  men  as  Monecue  and  Between  the  Logs 
among  the  Wyandottes  in  the  early  history  of  Methodist  mis- 
sion, Boot  and  Sevier  among  the  Cherokees,  Checote  among 
the  Creeks,  Willis  Fulsom  and  Nelson  and  others  like  them 
among-  the  Choctaws,  and  Andele  among  the  wild  tribes. 

\Ve  were  slow,  too  slow,  about  extending  the  work  beyond  the 
civilized  tribes;  and  it  was  not  till  1887  that  we  began  work 
among  the  wild  tribes  farther  west— the  Kiowas,  Comanches, 


WORK   AMONG    INDIANS.  451 


MKTMVIN. 


Apaches,  and  numerous  other  small  and  affiliated  tribes.     The 

condition  of  these  tribes  was  such  that  there  was  little  to  hope 

for  from  a  human  standpoint.    There  perhaps  never  was  a  people   wild  tribes. 

in  whom  there  was  so  little  upon  which  to  build.    No  homes  nor 

home  life,  no  civilization,  no  written  language,  but  wild,  nomadic, 

savage,  conscience  and  moral  instinct  dead,  degraded  to  even 

a  lower  level  by  contact  with  the  border  white  man,  and  stripped 

of   manhood    and   pauperized   by   the    government   ration   sys- 

tem.    But  the  gospel  faithfully  preached  triumphs  wherever  it 

goes.    The  work  was  slow  at  first,  but  in  the  course  of  eighteen 

months  there  were  signs  of  awakening,  and  soon  the  Holy  Spirit's 

power  came  upon  the  people,  consciences  were  quickened,  moral 

sense  revived,  hearts  were  broken  on  account  of  sin,  and  a  glorious 

conquest  began.    This  work  went  on,  and  from  time  to  time  there 

were  special  manifestations  of  God's  power  to  save.    I  have  seen 

the  rugged-faced  Indian,  proud  and  stubborn,  break  down  under 

conviction,  and  with  quivering  frame  and  streaming  eyes  come 

to  the  altar  and,  humbly  kneeling,  ask  the  prayers  of  God's  peo- 

ple.   I  have  heard  the  heart-broken  wail  of  conviction  followed 

by  the  exultant  shout  of  conscious  victory.     I  have  seen  whole 

congregations  swept  and  swayed  by  the  tide  of  God's  grace  till 

none  were  left  to  oppose,  and  in  the  triumphs  of  that  grace  I  have 

seen  the  savage  converted  into  a  saint.    This  work  has  gone  on, 

and  has  kept  pace  with  the  faith  and  zeal  of  those  interested  in  it.    what  has  been 

Not  least  among  the  important  factors  in  it  is  the  Woman's  For- 

eign Missionary  Society.    The  ladies  working  under  the  auspices 

of  the  Board  have,  with  saintly  lives  and  simple  faith,  gone  forth 

under  the  Spirit's  guidance  in  school  and  camp  and  tepee,  and 

all  along  God  has  blessed  their  efforts. 

In  proportion  to  the  men  and  means  there  have  not  been 
greater  results  in  all  the  history  of  our  missions  than  in  Indian 
work. 

After  the  above  historical  statement  it  may  be  inquired  what  has 
hindered,  and  hedged  in,  and  crippled,  and,  in  many  instances, 
destroyed  entirely  the  missions  referred  to  ;  and  what  are  the 
hindrances  met  with  now  in  the  Indian  work.  These  are 
numerous,  but  I  shall  mention  only  two  that,  in  studying  the 
history  of  the  Indian  work,  appear  most  prominent,  and  may 
be  the  source  of  all  others.  First,  spasmodic  and  irregular  effort 
upon  the  part  of  the  Church  :  secondly,  an  unsettled  policy  by  the 
government. 


452  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


METHVIN. 


1.  In  the  beginning  of  ail  our  Indian  missions  they  have  been 
enterprised  by  strong  men,  such  as  Findley,  Capers,  Talley,  and 
others  like  them,  and  glorious  success  followed  their  efforts  ;  but 
later  on  they  have  been  manned  with  weak  men,  and  supported 
with  meager  means,  and  when  difficulties  have  arisen,  with  some 
exceptions,  faith  has  weakened,  interest  waned,  and,  in  many 
instances,  missions  been  abandoned.     I  dare  not  elaborate.     It 
would  be  humiliating. 

2.  There  never  was  any  fixed  policy  upon  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  dealing  with  Indians.  We  have  ever  had  extemporized 
systems  of  shifting  expedients  and  doubtful  experiments.    Since 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  the  United  States  government 
has  made  hardly  less  than  a  thousand  treaties  with  the  various 
tribes  and  bands  of  Indians  in  this  country,  and  but  few  have 
ever  been  kept.      Through  coaxing  and  force  they  have  been 
changed  to  suit  the  avarice  and  greed  of  the  white  man  for  more 
land.     This  has  all  worked  disastrously  to  Indian  missions,  and 
in  many  instances  destroyed  them  entirely.     In  verification  of 
this  statement  one  item  of  history  just  here  will  be  of  interest. 

Up  to  1831  Indian  missions  were  wondrously  prosperous,  there 
being  such  an  impetus  given  to  the  work  that  in  one  year  about 
2.  coo  were  converted  and  added  to  the  Church.  But  there  came 
a  disastro:-  -  check.  In  1821,  one  Rev.  Dr.  Morse,  under  the 
sanction  ui  the  government,  made  an  extensive  tour  of  observa- 
tion among  the  western  tribes.  Upon  his  return  he  advised 
that  all  Indian  tribes  be  removed  10  territory  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. He  had  observed  on  this  tour  that  Indians  farthest  re- 
moved from  the  white  border  were  best  off,  more  easily  taught, 
more  ready  to  receive  the  principles  of  Christianity  and  take  on 
The  westward  ;tg  j-j^^g  ancj  assume  the  habits  of  industry  and  economv.  It 

migration.  J 

was  best,  therefore,  to  get  them  beyond  the  range  of  the  white 
man.  So  in  1831.  the  year  in  which  Indian  missions  were  mosl 
prosperous  and  seemed  to  be  gathering  strength  for  complete 
conquest,  the  government  adopted  this  policy,  and  began  b; 
coaxing  and  forced  treaty  to  remove  the  Indians  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. This  policy  operated  most  disastrously  to  the  missions 
and  to  the  Indians'  best  interest  for  time  and  eternity.  It  affected 
the  whole  Indian  work,  both  for  his  evangelization  and  his  civili- 
zation. when  he  took  up  his  sad  journey  toward  the  setting  sun. 
In  one  year  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  our  membership  was 
lost:  the  impulse  given  to  civilized  habits  and  industries  under 


WORK   AMONG    INDIANS.  453 

the  teaching  of  the  missionaries  was  dissipated ;  the  Indian  METHVIN. 
home,  humble  though  it  was,  was  broken  up ;  fields  abandoned ; 
and  he,  with  a  disappointed  faith  in  the  white  man's  religion,  sent 
out  a  wanderer  across  the  Mississippi.  And  down  to  this  day  he 
has  been  made  the  victim  of  shifting  expedients  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  been  pauperized  by  its  uncertain  policy.  He  has  been 
herded  away  from  civilization  on  reservations,  under  such  re- 
strictions as  have  made  possible  to  him  only  the  worst  elements 
of  our  civilization,  and,  instead  of  being  removed  beyond  the 
range  of  the  white  man,  he  has  been  kept  in  constant  and  con- 
tinued contact  with  that  element  of  the  white  race  whose  inter- 
course invariably  tends  to  debase  and  corrupt.  With  rare  excep- 
tions no  self-respecting  white  man  would  linger  upon  an  Indian 
reservation,  under  the  restrictions  that  the  government  neces- 
sarily imposed  in  carrying  out  the  treaties  made  with  the  Indian. 
The  government  has  meant  good  to  the  Indian ;  but  the  reserva- 
tion system,  in  its  administration,  has  been  almost  invariably  bad. 
Said  Secretary  Stanton  to  Bishop  Whipple :  "If  you  have  come  The  resen?a- 

•trr     1  •  n  i  •  i-    tion  system. 

to   Washington  to  tell  us  that  our  Indian  service  is  a  sink  of 

iniquity,  we  know  that."  No  law  is  self-operating,  it  must  have 
behind  it  the  convictions  and  purposes  of  the  people.  But  the 
Indian  has  been  kept  out  of  contact  with  that  element  of  the 
people  who  would  give  force  to  law;  and  the  border  white,  the 
refugee  from  justice,  the  cowboy,  the  soldier,  and  the  Indian 
trader  have  had  the  molding  of  his  mind  and  the  casting  of  his 
character. 

iUit  conditions  are  changing.  The  government  has  resorted 
to  the  last  expedient,  that  of  land  in  severalty  and  the  citizenizing 
of  the  Indian.  So  far  as  government  is  concerned,  this  is  the 
solution  of  the  Indian  problem.  There  can  be  no  preservation 
of  the  Indian  as  an  Indian.  He  must  be  absorbed  into  the  great  Plain  W0rd3. 
body  of  American  citizenship,  and  take  his  stand  side  by  side 
with  other  men.  If  he  is  not  prepared  for  it,  he  must  begin  un- 
prepared, for  it  is  at  hand.  There  is  no  more  territory  to  which 
he  can  emigrate.  And  the  task  of  unlearning  what  lias  been  so 
thoroughly  impressed  upon  him  by  the  government  policy,  of 
uncertain  homes  and  doubtful  habitation,  must  begin.  But  this 
last  change  means  to  him  home,  family  life,  permanency,  a  local 
habitation  and  a  name,  and  personal  interests  protected  under  the 
same  laws  as  those  of  other  men.  This  is  the  last  step  in  the  tran- 
sition period  with  most  of  the  Indians  of  our  country,  and  espe- 


MET  H  YIN. 


454  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

cially  those  among  whom  we  have  mission  work.  The  transition 
period  is  always  the  dangerous  one  with  any  crude  people  passing 
up  by  forced  measures  to  a  higher  civilization.  There  is  such  a 
strain  in  it  that  only  the  strong  survive,  the  weak  go  under.  So 
fast  are  the  movements  made  possible  under  Christian  influ- 
ences that  he  who  fails  to  arise  and  move  with  them  will  be 
crushed  beneath  their  onward  tread.  Confronted  with  these 
movements,  the  Indian  cannot  survive  without  our  most  earnest 
aid. 

But  in  the  midst  of  it  all  there  was  never  better  opportu- 
nity for  doing  something  effective,  permanent,  lasting.  The 
duty  of  the  Church,  therefore,  in  this  trying  time  to  the  Indian, 
is  plain,  and  her  work  urgent,  both  in  giving  cast  and  character 
to  his  home  life  and  in  creating  upon  the  part  of  whites  for 
him  an  elevating  and  healthful  sympathy.  All  along  a  double 
task  has  been  set  the  Church,  both  of  Christianizing  and  civilizing 
the  Indian,  both  of  changing  him  and  his  condition.  Primarily 
our  mission  is  not  concerned  with  a  man's  condition,  but  with 
the  man  himself.  Change  him  and  he  will  change  his  own  con- 
dition. But  the  Indian's  relation  to  us  as  an  occupant  of  the 
same  country,  and  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  same  government,  dou- 
bles our  obligation.  The  only  remedy,  the  only  panacea  we  have 
is  the  gospel.  That,  faithfully  preached,  not  only  saves  his  soul, 
but  qualifies  him  for  taking  on  the  habits  of  civilization.  That 
adjusts  him  in  relation  to  God  and  to  man.  Everywhere  our 
missions  have  been  planned  and  faithfully  pushed  this  has  proved 
true.  Under  the  impulses  of  the  Christian  life  the  Indian  has 
become  industrious,  built  homes,  planted  fields,  settled  in  con- 
tentment, till  the  white  man's  greed  for  more  land  demanded  that 
he  move  on.  The  Wyandottes,  Cherokees,  and  others  were  nota- 
wuat  the  gos-.  ble  examples  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  in  their  early  homes 
before  disturbed  by  removal  West.  Aoute,  a  converted  Kiowa, 
said  to  the  writer :  "When  you  came  here  and  began  to  preach, 
I  was  a  lazy,  gambling,  drunken  Indian ;  but  since  this  gospel 
took  hold  upon  me  I  have  a  home,  fifty  acres  of  land  in  cultiva- 
tion, a  good  crop,  some  cattle,  and  all  this  I  have  done  myself. 
I  find  the  Christian  road  is  the  working  road,  and  I  like  it."  So 
everywhere  that  we  are  faithful  in  teaching  him  the  gospel,  and 
he  receives  it,  the  double  task  both  of  saving  his  soul  and  fitting 
him  for  useful  citizenship  is  fulfilled.  This  is  the  day  of  his  vis- 
itation and  of  our  opportunity,  fraught  with  responsibility  and 


WORK    AMONG    INDIANS.  455 


MFT1IVIN. 


danger  to  both.  Shall  we  meet  the  responsibility  and  fulfill  our 
obligation  ?  We  shall  see.  Above  all  others,  two  things  threaten 
to  hinder  the  Indian  work  :  first,  failure  to  create  an  elevating 

svmpathv  for  the  Indians  upon  the  part  of  the  whites  with  whom 

,:  '    ,       .    ,  •       i    j  ji        .1          i  .  •  r  .LI  Two 

they  may  be  intermingled;  secondly,  the  absorption  of  the  men  WhiCh 
and  means  by  the  white  work  in  their  midst  to  the  neglect  of  the  threaten 
Indian.  For  years  this  has  been  the  case,  and  even  now  there 
are  Indian  tribes  right  in  the  midst  of  our  white  work,  who 
have  been  there  for  years,  and  have  never  been  touched  by  our 
ministry.  This  has  been  a  prominentcauseinthedecline  and  seem- 
ing failure  of  our  Indian  work  for  the  last  decade.  The  whites 
have  poured  into  the  Indian  country  in  such  numbers  that  our 
ministry  has  been  absorbed  by  them,  to  the  neglect  of  the  Indian. 
This  will  be  our  chief  danger  for  the  future.  Showing  the  danger 
indicates  the  remedy,  and  I  need  not  enlarge  lest  I  make  this 
paper  too  long.  In  closing  I  wish  to  say  that  it  is  not  to  our 
credit  nor  to  the  credit  of  the  religion  that  we  profess  to  say 
that  there  are  still  Indian  tribes  within  the  territory  of  our  Church 
to  whom  no  one  has  ever  yet  preached  the  gospel,  and  this  in 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century. 


//.    THE  GERMANS. 


GERMAN  MISSIONS. 

REV.    J.    A.    G.    RABE. 

THE  work  of  missions  among  the  Germans  in  the  South  was 
begun  when,  at  the  session  of  the  Mississippi  Conference  in  1845, 
Bishop  Soule  sent  to  Texas  as  a  missionary  Rev.  H.  P.  Young, 
a  man  of  rare  gifts  as  a  preacher.  In  the  city  of  Galveston,  on 
the  last  Sunday  in  January,  1846,  he  preached  to  about  1,500 
Germans  near  the  shores  of  the  bay  on  Isaiah  Iv.  1-3.  They  re- 
ceived the  word  with  gladness,  and  came  again  and  again  to  hear 
him.  On  the  second  Sunday  in  April,  1846,  Brother  Young  or- 
ganized the  first  society  of  German  Methodists  in  the  State  of 
Texas,  and  by  November  of  the  same  year  a  church  had  been 
completed,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.  Powerful 
revivals  followed,  and  the  membership  increased.  Ulysses  Salis 
and  C.  Rottenstein  in  turn  succeeded  Brother  Young,  when,  upon 
the  former's  return  to  his  former  home,  Cincinnati,  P.  A.  Moel- 
ling  was  sent  to  this  mission.  Under  his  pastorate  the  Church 
grew  and  prospered,  and  a  parsonage  was  built.  In  1854  H.  P. 
Young  was  returned  to  this  charge,  and  P.  A.  Moelling  became 
editor  of  a  German  Church  paper,  Dcr  Erangelischc  Apologctc. 
In  1856  the  congregation  became  self-supporting,  and  was  taken 
from  the  list  of  missions.  In  the  following  year  P.  A.  Moel 
ling  was  appointed  junior  preacher,  while  H.  P.  Young  was 
preacher  in  charge.  Irreconcilable  differences  arose  between 

EJstorv.  1-11  -11 

these  two  men,  and,  not  being  abie  to  work  harmoniously,  the 
latter  withdrew  from  the  Methodist  Church,  joined  the  Presby- 
terians, and,  the  majority  of  his  former  members  following  him, 
this  first  mission  of  the  German  Methodists  was  rent  in  twain. 
Repeated  efforts  were  made  to  rebuild  the  walls  of  Zion  at  that 
place,  but  without  success.  The  field  was  finally  abandoned,  and 
the  property  sold  in  1879.  Thus  ends  this  first  sad  chapter  in  the 
history  of  German  Methodism  in  Texas. 

In  1854  there  were  four  missions:  Galveston,  served  by  P.  A. 
Moelling;  Victoria,  by  Edward  Schneider;  Fredericksburg,  es- 


GERMAN    MISSIONS.  457 

tablished  by  that  noble  pioneer  preacher,  C.  A.  Grote ;  and  New    RABE- 

Braunfels,  where  H.  P.  Young  labored  with  much  success.     In 

the  fall  of  this  year,  at  Chappell  Hill,  five  German  preachers  were 

received  on  trial  into  the  Texas  Conference :  F.  Vordenbaumen, 

who  was  sent  to  Industry ;  August  Engel,  appointed  to  the  Bell- 

ville  Mission ;  John  G.  Kopp,  stationed  at  Fredericksburg,  C.  A.   preachers  in 

Grote  being  sent  to  Llano  Mission ;  Anthony  Warns,  who  sue-    the  Texas 
0  .  .  •  Conference. 

ceeded  Edward  Schneider  at  Victoria,  while  the  latter  was  sent 
to  a  new  field,  the  Bastrop  Mission ;  and  Gustavus  Elley,  who  has 
sent  as  junior  preacher  to  the  New  Braunfels  Mission.  At  each 
of  these  places,  notably  at  Industry,  New  Braunfels,  Fredericks- 
burg, Llano,  and  Bastrop,  the  missionaries  labored  with  much 
zeal  and  success,  laying  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  Meth- 
odism, building  churches  and  parsonages,  visiting  from  house  to 
house,  distributing  tracts,  teaching  the  children  and  youth  at 
every  place,  and  organizing  societies  in  the  outlying  settlements. 
They  had  to  suffer  much  persecution  from  the  enemies  of  the 
cross.  At  Galveston  the  life  of  Brother  Young  was  repeatedly 
in  peril.  Evil-minded  persons  also  stole  the  bell  of  the  church. 
and  cast  it  into  the  waters  of  the  bay.  F.  Vordenbaumen,  at 
Industry,  likewise  was  threatened  with  death,  and  narrowly  es- 
caped the  rage  of  his  persecutors.  At  New  Fountain,  where,  in 
1856,  J.  A.  Schaper  began  his  missionary  labors,  much  opposition 
\vas  encountered,  and  hardships  and  trials  were  endured  by  this 
faithful  and  diligent  worker;  but  the  broad  shield  of  God's  pro- 
tection was  over  all  these  devoted  men,  and  they  came  forth 
from  these  fiery  trials  not  only  unharmed,  but  also  wonder- 
fully strengthened  in  their  faith  in  the  overruling  providence  of 
God. 

In  Houston  H.  P.  Young  first  began  to  preach  to  the  Germans 
in  1847.  He  was  followed  by  C.  Goldberg,  a  converted  Israelite, 
a  man  of  some  learning,  and  quite  eloquent  withal.  He  had 
good  success,  and  on  the  6th  of  May,  1848,  a  society  of  about  Ia  -oustoa. 
eighty  members  was  organized.  In  1859,  at  a  place  which  at  that 
time  was  little  more  than  a  swamp  at  the  corner  of  what  is  now 
Milam  and  McKinney  Streets,  a  church  was  built,  together  with, 
a  parsonage,  which,  (hiring  the  pastorate  of  F.  Yordenbaumen 


ishe<!  memory,  a  truly  apostolic  man  of  God,  who,  for  many  years 
had  laboivd  with  much  success  in  Xew  Orleans,  was  transferred  to 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

the  Texas  Conference,  and  appointed  to  Houston  Station.  Under 
his  pastorate  the  Church  reached  a  high  plane  of  spiritual  life. 
It  has  ever  been  rich  in  faith  and  good  works,  and  an  example  in 
liberal  giving,  especially  to  the  cause  of  missions.  This  impor- 
tant station,  one  of  the  strongholds  of  German  Methodism,  has 
been  served  in  turn  by  such  able  and  faithful  workers  as  F.  Vor- 
denbaumen,  J.  Prinzing,  J.  Bader,  W.  A.  Knolle,  J.  A.  Pauly,  P. 
H.  Hensch,  D.  Schrimpf,  and  A.  E.  Rector.  Its  present  pastor 
is  William  A.  Knolle.  Two  mission  Churches  have  also  been  es- 
tablished in  Houston,  which  are  measurably  prosperous. 

At  Bastrop  E.  Schneider  built  a  church  and  parsonage  in 
Tu? Q  l857'  He  organized  societies  at  Pin  Oak  and  Rabb's  Creek,  and 
es.  here  was  laid  the  foundation  of  that  large  and  prosperous  society 

which  to-day  is  known  as  the  Grassyville  Circuit,  of  which  J. 
Kern,  another  member  of  the  faithful  "Old  Guard,"  is  pastor. 
This  Church  might  justly  be  called  the  "Mother  of  Preachers," 
for  quite  a  number  of  men  converted  at  her  altars  have  gone  forth 
as  itinerants  in  the  German  mission  fields.  From  here  went  out 
Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  D.D.,  converted  in  a  most  remarkable  man- 
ner at  a  quarterly  meeting  held  under  an  arbor  in  1859;  J.  G. 
Krauter  and  H.  Ebers,  both  of  whom  were  cut  off  in  the  prime  of 
their  usefulness;  H.  W.  Weise,  at  present  presiding  elder  of  the 
Western  District ;  and  the  writer. 

The  limits  of  this  paper  forbid  a  detailed  account  of  the  dif- 
ferent fields  of  labor  successfully  taken  up,  and  of  the  men  who 
entered  the  ranks  of  the  German  ministry  from  time  to  time  to 
neids.  spread  scriptural  holiness  among  their  countrymen.  We  will 
briefly  mention  the  name  of  the  various  missions  begun  and, 
more  or  less,  successfully  carried  on  :  Bellville,  Cuero,  Waidect, 
Bartlett,  Weimar,  East  Bernard,  and  Maxwell.  Of  the  men  who 
held  aloft  the  banner  of  Methodism  amid  toils  and  conflicts,  per- 
secutions and  privations,  we  will  here  mention  the  names  of  J. 
Kern,  J.  Bader,  J.  G.  Mueller,  P.  H.  Hensch,  J.  Bohmfalk,  A. 
Soheurich,  E.  A.  Konken,  J.  Mcrkel,  and  E.  Frenzel. 

During  the  first  decade  of  its  history  the  German  District  was 
presided  over  in  turn  by  I.  Cox,  J.  W.  Whipple,  and  T.  W.  DeYil- 
biss.  The  last  named  had  mastered  the  German  language  suffi- 
ciently to  be  able  to  preach  in  German,  which  lie  occasionally  did. 
Later,  C.  A.  Grote,  F.  Yordcnbaumen,  J.  A.  Schaper,  J.  Pauly, 
J.  Prinzing,  J.  Bader,  William  A.  Knolle,  and  J.  Kern  in  Texas, 
and  J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  D.D..  J.  G.  Krauter,  in  Louisiana,  were  sue- 


GERMAN    MISSIONS.  459 

cessively  appointed  to  this  office,  which  they  magnified  to  the    "A:::'; 
glory  of  God  and  the  upbuilding  of  his  kingdom.    Those  holding 
this  office  at  present  are  P.  H.  Hensch  and  H.  W.  Weise. 

As  early  as  1847  German  missionaries  began  to  preach  to  the 
Germans  of  the  Crescent  City.  Among  the  first  workers  on  this 
field  we  find  the  names  of  William  Tostrick,  F.  Bremer,  J.  M. 
Hofer,  and  P.  A.  Moelling,  the  latter  being  licensed  to  preach  on 
the  I9th  of  June,  1850.  Peter  Schmucker,  from  Cincinnati,  also 

visited  this  field,  aiding  and  encouraging  the  workers.    The  first 

,  In  'New  Or- 

mission  was  begun  in  Dryades  Street,  and  shortly  afterwards,  in    ieg23. 

1848,  we  find  William  Tostrick  in  charge  of  Piety  Street  Church. 
In  1853  G.  Busman  began  to  labor  in  LaFayette,  where,  in  1855, 
a  church  and  parsonage  was  built.  In  1855,  m  tne  month  of 
April,  the  corner  stone  of  an  elegant  brick  church  on  Dryades 
Street  was  laid  by  Dr.  H.  N.  McTyeire,  which  was  dedicated  by 
Bishop  Paine  in  1859. 

In  1855  there  were  four  missions,  with  an  aggregate  member- 
ship of  162.  The  sum  of  $268.65  had  been  collected  for  missions. 
In  January,  1859,  ^-  ^  •  Traeger,  preacher  in  charge  of  Dryades 
Street  Church,  reports  his  membership  to  be  no,  and  the  amount 
raised  in  the  congregation  for  all  purposes  $2,085.90.  One  of  the 
leading  members  of  this  Church  for  many  years — ever  open- 
handed,  generous,  and  true  to  its  every  interest — was  Brother  J. 

II.   Keller,   whose   praise  for  liberalitv  is   in  all  the   Churches. 

Statistics  of 

These  Churches  became  important  centers  of  religious  influence,  is-,5. 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  their  subsequent  growth 
and  development  being  the  zeal  and  unremitting  labors  of  Dr. 
J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  who  spent  the  best  years  of  his  life  in  this  work, 
until  declining  health  forced  him  to  retire  from  the  active  duties 
of  the  ministry. 

During  the  war  between  the  States  our  German  missions 
shared  the  general  distress,  the  missionaries  and  their  families 
suffering  many  privations.  During  these  years  the  Churches 
made  little  or  no  progress.  After  the  war  the  work  was  taken 
up  with  new  hope  and  vigor  :  but  a  danger  arose  from  an  un- 
expected quarter,  which  threatened  to  disrupt  the  entire  German 
work".  Overtures  were  made  by  parties  in  the  Xorth,  looking  to 
the  uniting"  of  the  German  work  with  that  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
Slavery  having  been  abolished,  it  was  said,  with  some  show  of 
plausibility,  that  there  was  no  longer  any  bar  to  the  union  of 
the  two  Churches,  especially  of  their  German  branches.  A  num- 


460  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

RAliE-  her  of  the  German  preachers — they  shall  be  nameless  here — lent 

a  willing  ear  to  these  overtures,  coupled  as  they  were  with  prom- 

Evii  da  «  *ses  °^  financial  aid  and  reinforcements  of  men.  Believing  it  to 
be  to  their  advantage,  these  brethren  left  our  ranks,  and  cast  their 
lot  with  the  M.  E.  Church,  taking  with  them,  in  a  number  of 
places,  the  greater  part  of  our  membership.  For  a  number  of 
years,  while  altar  was  being  erected  over  against  altar,  unbroth- 
erly  feeling  prevailed  to  a  large  extent.  But  at  present,  while 
the  lines  between  the  two  Churches  are  more  sharply  drawn  than 
ever  before,  a  spirit  of  true  fraternity  prevails,  and  the  two 
Churches  work  side  by  side  in  harmony  and  peace. 

We  could  not  pass  over  this  mournful  episode  in  silence,  with- 
out leaving  unexplained  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  re- 
tarded growth  and  development  of  German  Missions  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South.  Had  I  the  time,  I  might  show,  however,  how 
the  Lord  and  Head  of  his  Church  overruled  even  this  seeming- 
disaster  to  the  advancement  of  his  cause  and  the  extension  of  his 
kingdom  among  the  Germans  of  Texas. 

•  In  the  place  of  the  men  who  had  gone  from  us  the  Lord  soon 
called  others  to  take  up  the  work.  In  1869,  at  Lagrange,  Tex., 
William  A.  Knolle,  J.  Bader,  and  the  writer  were  received  into  the 
traveling  connection. 

By  authority  of  the  General  Conference  of  1874  the  German 
work  in  Texas  and  Louisiana  was  set  apart  into  an  Annual  Con- 

ibe  new  era.  ference,  which,  under  the  title  of  "The  German  Mission  Confer- 
ence of  Texas  and  Louisiana/'  was  organized  by  Bishop  J.  C. 
Keener  on  the  i6th  of  December,  1874,  at  Houston,  Tex.  There 
were  fourteen  members  enrolled.  A.  Albright  was  received  as 
a  transfer  from  Missouri,  and  J.  C.  Kopp,  Jr.,  and  H.  Ebers  were 
received  on  trial.  Others  who  were  called  to  the  ministry,  and 
were  duly  received  into  the  Conference  during  the  five  or  six 
years  next  following,  were  :  J.  G.  Mueller,  J.  G.  Krauter,  J.  Merkel. 
John  Bohmfalk,  H.  W.  Weise,  E.  A.  Konken,  P.  H.  Hensch,  D. 
Schrimpf,  C.  Kurz,  E.  Frenzel,  C.  Wiemers,  J.  J.  Blanz,  G.  Gerdes, 
William  Lieser.  This  strong  reenforcement  would  seem  to  justi- 
fy high  hopes  of  aggressive  and  successful  movements  all  along 
the  line  ;  but,  alas  !  before  very  long  seven  out  of  this  last-named 
list,  most  of  them  in  the  prime  of  their  manhood,  were  called 
from  the  militant  host  on  earth  to  the  Church  triumphant  above  : 
five  dropped  out  of  the  ranks  through  location  or  defection,  and 
only  five  of  them  arc  left,  who  are  battling  valiantly  for  their 


GERMAN    MISSIONS. 


461 


Lord.  Is  it  a  wonder,  then,  that  the  work  of  German  missions  has 
been  hampered  and  retarded? 

About  the  year  1887  the  German  work  in  Louisiana  was  again 
incorporated  with  the  Louisiana  Conference.  Since  then  it  has 
become  completely  Americanized,  the  German  Churches  being 
served  by  American  pastors.  Very  few  of  the  old  German  mem- 
bers survive,  but  their  descendants  still  worship  at  the  same  altars 
where  the  former  pastors,  Pauly,  Ahrens,  Krauter,  and  others 
dedicated  them  to  God  in  holy  baptism. 

From  H.  P.  Young,  the  first  missionary,  to  F.  W.  Radetzky, 
who  has  just  been  received  on  trial,  there  were  connected  with 
the  German  work,  by  actual  count,  about  eighty  preachers,  the 
record  of  many  of  whom  was  either  brief  or  blurred.  But  we 
want  to  speak  of  those  whose  lives  were  interwoven  with  the 
very  fabric  of  the  Church,  whose  biography  is  the  history  of  the 
German  work.  Twenty-three  of  them  have  exchanged  the  sword 
of  conflict  for  the  crown  of  rejoicing.  They  were  men  of  faith 
and  prayer,  of  diligent  study  and  tireless  energy,  in  labors  abun- 
dant, fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord.  They  came  from  the 
field  and  the  workshop,  possessed  neither  the  culture  of  the  polite 
world  nor  the  learning  of  the  schools  (the  German  work  has  had 
but  one  college  graduate  in  its  ministerial  ranks),  but  sought  to 
improve  their  minds  and  fit  themselves  for  the  duties  of  their 
high  calling  by  assiduously  studying  the  Word  of  Gocl  and  the 
books  of  the  course  of  study.  Quite  a  number  of  them  possessed 
the  gift  of  natural  eloquence  in  a  remarkable  degree,  and,  while 
ignorant  of  rhetorical  rules,  swayed  and  thrilled  their  audiences. 
Nor  were  they  ranters.  From  the  bold,  imaginative  ilights  of 
the  poetic  Moelling.  and  the  smooth,  flowing  periods  of  J.  15.  A. 
Ahrens,  to  the  clean-cut,  terse,  and  logical  .sentences  of  J.  A. 
Schaper,  and  the  Uoanergic  thunder  of  J.  Bader,  their  pulpit  dis- 
courses were  characterized  by  soundness  of  doctrine  and  good 
common  sense.  Those  of  them  who  have  left  their  impress  upon 
the  Churches  were,  almost  without  exception,  converted  at  the 
altars  of  our  own  Church,  and  were  closely  identified  with  its 
interests.  With  the  love  of  Christ  in  their  hearts,  the  burden  of 
souls  upon  their  consciences,  and  the  prospect  of  success  to  spur 
them  on.  they  used  their  talents  to  the  best  advantage  for  the 
Church  :  and  they  were  successful.  The  shout  of  their  victories 
resounded  from  the  limpid  waters  of  the  Llano  to  the  bine  wave? 
>'f  the  Gulf.  And  they  builded  well.  Thev  trained  their  neople 


Personnel. 


Kot  college- 
bred  men. 


462 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Periodicals. 


Eooks. 


Ixhication. 


along  all  lines  of  Church  activities,  taught  them  to  observe  all 
the  usages  of  Methodism,  and  indoctrinated  them  upon  all  points 
of  Methodist  theology.  Such  were  the  pioneers  of  German  Meth- 
odism in  Texas  and  Louisiana.  Only  a  few  of  the  "Old  Guard" 
remain,  some  of  whom  are  still  in  the  active  work,  and  three  of 
whom  (J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  D.D.,  J.  A.  Schaper,  and  J.  Prinzing) 
are  on  the  "roll  of  honor,"  loved  and  revered  by  their  brethren. 

In  1855  was  begun  the  publication  of  a  weekly  German  Church 
paper,  Der  Evangelische  Apologcte,  at  Galveston,  Tex.,  Rev.  P.  A. 
Moelling,  editor.  It  had  an  extensive  circulation  among  the  Ger- 
man Methodists  of  Texas  and  Louisiana,  and  even  in  the  North, 
and  served  as  an  excellent  means  of  disseminating  religious  truth 
as  held  by  the  Methodist  Church.  Its  publication  was  suspended 
in  1 86 1.  It  was  resumed  in  1868  by  Dr.  J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  who 
had  been  elected  as  its  editor.  It  was  at  first  a  very  small  sheet, 
issued  semimonthly,  but  \vas  enlarged  somewhat  on  the  ist  of 
October,  1869,  and  again  in  January,  1872,  when  its  title  was 
changed  to  Der  Familienfreund.  It  was  edited  with  much  ability, 
and  exerted  a  wholesome  and  powerful  influence  throughout  the 
borders  of  our  German  Zion. 

The  Publishing  House  at  Nashville  generously  published,  for 
the  use  of  our  German  Churches,  a  translation  of  the  book  of 
discipline,  a  catechism,  a  hymn  book,  and  a  hymn  and  tune  book, 
"Lob  Gottes" — all  of  which  were  prepared  by  that  indefatigable 
worker  and  able  scholar,  J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  D.D.,  of  this  city.  A 
new  edition  of  the  book  of  Discipline  was  brought  out  by  the 
House  in  1899 ;  also  a  new  and  revised  edition  of  the  German 
hymn  book,  prepared  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose. 
of  which  P.  H.  Hensch  was  chairman.  The  books  were  well  re- 
ceived, and  have  been  generally  introduced. 

In  1894  the  brethren  in  Texas  undertook  the  publication  of  a 
weekly  paper,  Der  Missionsi 'round,  which  is,  at  present,  the  official 
organ  of  the  German  Mission  Conference.  Scarcely  a  family  of 
German  Southern  Methodists  can  be  found  where  it  is  not  read. 
Its  circulation  is  steadily  increasing. 

The  importance  of  mental  culture  was  early  recognized  by  the 
German  missionaries.  They  fostered,  and  in  many  instances 
taught,  day  schools  in  connection  with  their  congregations.  Sev- 
eral attempts  were  made  to  establish  schools  of  a  higher  grade. 
with  but  partial  success.  At  Fredericksburg  quite  a  pretentious 
college  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  $20,000.  and  Prof. 


GERMAN    MISSIONS.  463 

W.  R.  J.  Thoenssen  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  college.   RABE- 
After  a  few  years,  however,  the  school  was  discontinued  for  want 
of  support. 

During  the  last  decade  the  matter  of  higher  Christian  educa- 
tion has  been  stressed,  and,  as  a  result,  quite  a  number  of  young 
men  from  our  German  congregations  have  attended  the  South- 
western University.  Five  of  their  number  have  already  entered 
the  ranks  of  the  active  ministry,  and  a  number  of  others  are  pre- 
paring for  the  work. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  in  this  connection  the  words 
of  Rev.  A.  E.  Rector  in  an  article  on  German  Missions,  which 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Texas  Christian  Advocate  of  Jan- 
uary 24,  1901.  He  says :  "Only  one  year  during  the  past  decade 
did  the  German  Conference  report  a  loss  in  membership,  and 
that  was  very  small.  New  territory  is  being  added  to  the  field, 
and  promising  young  men  are  offering  themselves  for  the  min- 
istry. Along  with  a  slowly  but  steadily  increasing  membership, 
church  and  parsonage  building  has  gone  forward,  until  the  value  A  revifew- 
of  such  property  is  now  about  $50,000,  practically  free  from  debt. 
The  Epworth  League  has  gained  a  sure  footing.  In  addition  to 
a  Conference  Loan  Fund  of  $2,000  for  the  superannuates,  we 
have  another  fund,  which,  with  the  Twentieth  Century  Thank 
Offering,  will  aggregate  $6,000.  The  object  of  this  fund  is  to  as- 
sist young  preachers,  and  also  those  who  expect  to  become  Ger- 
man Methodist  teachers,  in  getting  an  education.  The  amount 
raised  on  the  Twentieth  Century  Thank  Offering  was  $3,500, 
a  per  capita  of  $2.50.  The  annual  collections  from  all  scources 
average  about  $8  per  member,  while  the  combined  foreign  and 
domestic  missionary  collection  yields  a  per  capita  of  about  $1.25. 
Taken  altogether,  it  would  seem  that  the  Church  has  no  ground 
for  doubt  or  despair  about  her  German  offspring.  No  more  loyal 
and  reliable  element  is  to  be  found  in  the  entire  connection.  Out- 
side of  all  figures,  there  is  to  be  reported  a  growing  hope  and 
courage,  which  are  the  best  guaranty  of  larger  future  success." 
I  wish  I  might  quote  the  whole  article,  for  it  sheds  a  world  of 
light  upon  the  problem  of  German  missions. 

The  church  at  Llano  has  been  enlarged  and  modernized.  The 
influence  of  Methodism  permeates  the  entire  German  popula- 
tion in  that  section  of  country.  New  preaching  places  have  been 
taken  up,  and  this  busy  hive  is  upon  the  eve  of  "swarming."  This 
Church  alone  raised  for  all  purposes  last  year  $3,662.  Its  pastor 


464  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

RABK'  is  Rev.  E.  A.  Konken.    At  New  Fountain  similar  hopeful  con- 

ditions are  met  with,  extensive  improvements  of  the  Church  prop- 
erty are  going  on,  and  the  pastor,  Rev.  C.  A.  Lehmberg,  reports 
ten  new  members  received  into  the  Church  on  March  24.  At 
Tehuacana,  on  this  circuit,  fifty  acres  of  land  have  been  secured 
as  a  building  site  for  a  church  and  parsonage.  Fredericksburg 
Mission  likewise  is  on  the  up  grade,  and  the  outlook  for  Elm 
Creek  and  Cibolo  Mission  is  exceedingly  hopeful. 

Of  the  Eastern  District,  Rev.  P.  A.  Hensch  \vrites  :  "The  East- 
ern District  is  rising  again  from  the  hard  blows  it  received  last 
year  from  adverse  seasons  and  the  destructive  visitations  of  in- 
sects and  storm.  The  damaged  churches  have  all  been  repaired 
and  rebuilt.  The  finances  are  in  a  good  condition  and  hopeful. 
Two  ne\v  Sunday  schools  are  reported  since  Conference.  One 
new  charge  was  taken  up  last  Conference,  which  is  promising. 
and  there  are  prospects  of  taking  up  another  charge  at  an  early 
date.  Good  meetings  are  reported  by  the  brethren,  and  sonic 
ingathering  of  members,  which  we  hope  to  increase  during  the 
summer  campaign.  We  are  in  need  of  two  more  men  on  thv. 
district  this  year,  but  we  hope  to  have  this  want  filled  by  next 
year." 

The  conditions  confronting  the  German  missionaries  of  the 
present  day  are  totally  different  from  those  of  fifty  years  ap;o. 
At  that  lime  there  were  but  few  Germans  in  this  country  who 
were  not — outwardly  at  least — religious  ;  very  few  houses  could 

The  situation  be  found  where  the  Bible,  the  hymn  book,  and  some  volume  of 
~°~  ai'  sermons  were  not  cherished  treasures.  That  generation  lias 
passed  away,  and  with  it  has  gone  all  reverence  for  things  sacred 
and  divine.  A  godless,  secular  German  press,  innumerable  clubs 
and  societies,  dancing  halls,  beer  gardens,  and  other  pleasure 
resort? :  schools  from  which  is  banished  even  the  semblance  of 
religion — these  and  other  conditions  too  numerous  to  mention 
here  militate  most  effectively  against  the  efforts  to  evangelic- 
;he  Germans  of  this  great  State.  Taking  into  consideration  these 
difficulties,  obstacles,  and  disadvantages  with  which  our  brethren 
have  to  contend,  the  wonder  is  that  they  are  not  only  'Holding 
their  own,  but  slowly  advancing  at  every  point.  We  believe  that 
tlie  next  decade  will  \\itness  an  era  of  unprecedented  growth  in 
the  work  uf  German  missions  in  Texas. 

Dun'mj  these  many  year?  of  missionary  labors  amonrj;  the  Ger- 
mans— vears  of  toil  and  danger,  of  vigorous  growth  and  rctar.le  i 


GERMAN    MISSIONS.  465 

development,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  victory  and  defeat — the  M.  E.    RAHE- 
Church,  South,  has  been  a  tender  foster  mother  to  the  Gorman 
work.    She  has  supplied  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  work.    She 
has  fed  and  clothed  and  helped  to  house  the  German  mission-   „ 

The  Charct  a 
aries,  their  wives  and  children,  and  still  continues  to  do  so.    To    foster  mother 

her  we  owe  undying  love  and  gratitude,  a  debt  which  we  can 
hope  to  repay — though  but  in  part — only  by  unswerving  loyalty 
to  her  principles  and  unremitting  toil  in  her  service.  May  the 
day  speedily  come  in  which  she  will  see  every  outlay  of  money, 
and  every  heart  throb  of  tender  solicitude  lavished  upon  the  work 
of  German  missions  fully  justified  and  abundantly  rewarded  by 
the  gathering  of  multiplied  thousands  of  Germans  "into  the 
fold  of  the  Church  !" 


///.   THE  NEGROES. 


ARE  WE  MEETING  OUR  RESPONSIBILITY  TO 
THE  NEGROES  OF  THE  SOUTH? 

REV.    R.    J.    BIGHAM,    D.D. 

No  genuine  friend  of  mankind  can  consider  without  pain  and 
pity  the  present  estate  of  eight  millions  of  our  fellow-creatures. 
Even  eight  million  dogs  would  have,  if  under  general  ban,  a  kind- 
ly court  of  equity  and  appeal  in  every  gentle  breast.  Nor  can  it 
matter  to  the  kind  heart  that  these  fellow-citizens  of  ours  are 
black.  The  color  of  the  men  on  a  checker  board  does  not  affect 
the  rights  of  the  struggle.  With  regard  to  the  hand  which  it  will 
be  wise  both  on  their  account  and  on  ours  to  extend  them  their 
previous  condition  has  nothing  to  do.  Not  what  they  ought  to 
be  but  what  they  are  is  of  present  concern,  and  while  what  they 
might  have  been  is  grievous  to  think  on,  yet  what  they  may  be 
is  of  present  and  infinite  moment.  ''The  lower  they  sink  the  more 
they  need  us  to  lean  upon." 

And  we  have  in  the  splendid  example  of  our  fathers,  who 
counted  it  their  highest  privilege  to  minister  to  the  slaves,  a 
stirring  call  to  do  our  duty  by  the  children  of  those  slaves.  "My 
brethren,"  said  Bishop  Andrew  to  an  Annual  Conference,  ''the 
soul  of  the  poorest  slave,  washed  in  redeeming  blood,  is  dearer 
to  God  than  the  unregenerated  spirit  of  the  greatest  monarch. 
For  myself  I  would  rather  know  that  some  poor  slave  would  cast 
a  flower  on  my  grave  when  I  am  gone,  in  grateful  memory  of 
my  agency  in  leading  him  to  Jesus,  than  to  have  any  honor  this 
poor  world  could  bestow  upon  me."  Bishop  Andrew,  clothed 
in  this  becoming  sentiment,  was  the  rule  and  not  the  exception 
in  this  particular.  It  is  graven  in  the  marble  of  a  plain  shaft  as 
the  last  and  best  tribute  to  William  Capers  that  he  was  "The 
Founder  of  Missions  to  the  Slaves."  There  were  at  the  close 
of  the  civil  war  three  hundred  missionaries  to  the  slaves,  and 
we  had  gathered  into  our  different  Churches  nearly  half  a  mil- 
lion negroes  by  this  time,  and  had  spent  over  $2,000,000  in  their 
evangelization.  Even  during  the  year  1864  our  Church  raised 


OUR    RESPONSIBILITY    TO    THE    NEGROES.  467 

nearly  $160,000  for  this  work,  to  which  was  contributed  else-  IU°HAM 
where  in  the  South  $100,000  more.  What  the  people  at  large 
in  the  South  thought  on  this  question  is  significantly  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  one  of  our  proudest  States  defeated  for  Congress 
one  of  her  most  distinguished  statesmen  because  he  was  not,  as 
Bishop  Galloway  has  said,  in  sympathy  with  the  compassionate 
treatment  and  religious  instruction  of  the  blacks.  I  know  noth- 
ing more  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  world  than  this  history, 
and,  standing  on  the  face  of  its  facts  and  figures,  I  am  astonished 
at  the  separation  which  has  come  about  between  us  and  the  de- 
scendants of  our  father's  servants. 

There  seems  to  me  to  be,  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  issue,  less  well-advised  interest  in  the  negro  than  with  regard 
to  any  other  pending  matter  of  like  nature  and  approximately  Jntell.  ent 
equal  public  concern.  I  say  well-advised  interest,  for  in  this  very  terest  aeed 
particular  have  the  best-intentionecl  efforts  of  the  noblest  friends 
of  the  negro  fallen  short.  No  policy,  fundamental  and  proceeding 
upon  the  inherent  nature  of  the  case,  has  been  decided  upon  and 
pursued.  Help  has  been  chunked  at  him  from  one  quarter,  and 
thrown  over  the  fence  to  him  from  another,  whereas  we  all  know 
that  charity  after  this  fashion  comes  short  of  the  best  efficiency. 
They  have,  in  some  good  degree,  been  fed,  sheltered,  clothed,  and 
educated ;  but  intermittently  and  in  spots.  This  course  has  bro- 
ken this  people  up  into  bands  and  classes,  which  is  the  worst  evil 
that  could  have  befallen  them,  for  their  solidarity  ought  to  be 
preserved.  Their  hope  is  in  the  preservation  of  their  racial  in- 
tegrity. 

\  cry  much  depends  upon  standpoints;  and  if  we  could  got  rid 
of  the  standpoint  that  the  negro  is  any  other  sort  of  a  question 
than  any  other  sort  of  a  man  is,  we  would  sooner  be  able  to  state 
him  and  solve  him.  We  Southern  Methodist  people  will  never 
meet  our  responsibilities  to  the  negro  until,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
we  honestly  acknowledge  and  assume  responsibility  for  him  ;  and 
while  it  is  by  no  means  true  that  we  have  been  delinquent  in 
this  matter,  as  some  have  declared,  it  is  nevertheless  certain  that 
we  lack  very  much  of  doing  our  whole  duty  to  him.  And  we  1""-ce  of  itli 
must  begin  by  declaring  that  he  is  a  man  and  that  he  is  our 
brother.  Seen  in  any  other  perspective,  he  will  not  receive  from 
us  what  he  needs  from  us  and  what  we  owe  him.  God  would 
doubtless  have  us  treat  him  like  we  would  any  other  man  in  his 
place.  This  is  almost  the  whole  of  it. 


BIGliAM. 


468  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

When  we  have  helped  him  to  feed,  clothe,  shelter,  and  educate 
himself,  and  when  we  have  given  him  work  and  paid  him  just 
wages  for  it,  we  are  not  at  the  end  of  our  duty.  A  man  wants 
more  than  this ;  for  life  is  other  and  more  than  existence,  and 
the  negro  should  have  encouragement  and  recognition  in  all 
those  high  and  precious  matters  in  which  a  human  being  counts 
life  dear  unto  himself.  It  is  not  hard  to  minister  to  his  existence, 
but  it  will  take  the  whole  Sermon  on  the  Mount  to  minister  to 
his  life.  A  man's  life  is  "more  than  meat  and  the  body  than 
raiment."  Let  us  feed  and  clothe,  shelter  and  educate  him,  but 
let  us  also  kindle  within  him  the  hope  that  one  day  he  shall  be 
free  to  think  and  act  among  us,  and  shall  be  worthy  of  it ;  and 
let  us  remember  that  so  long  as  we  deny  him  anything  which 
Jesus  would  extend  him  if  he  were  here,  we  do  fall  short  of  our 
whole  duty  to  him. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  adopted, 
in  1866,  the  following  resolutions : 

"Whereas  the  condition  of  the  colored  people  of  the  South  is 
now  essentially  changed ;  and  whereas  the  interests  of  the  whites 

Action  of  the 

General  COD-  and  colored  people  are  materially  dependent  upon  the  intelli- 
gence and  virtue  of  this  race  that  we  have  had  and  must  continue 
to  have  among  us  ;  and  whereas  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  has  always  claimed  to  be  the  friend  of  that  people,  a 
claim  vindicated  by  the  continuous  and  successful  exertions  made 
in  their  behalf  in  instructing  and  evangelizing  them,  and  it  is  im- 
portant that  we  should  continue  to  evince  our  interest  for  them 
in  this  regard ;  and  as  our  hearts  prompt  us  to  this  philanthropy ; 
therefore  be  it 

''Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  our  people  the  establishment 
of  day  schools,  under  proper  regulations  and  trustworthy  teach- 
ers, for  the  education  of  colored  children." 

Our  bishops,  in  their  address  to  the  General  Conference  of 
1882,  said:  "The  negro  population  in  the  South  and  Southwest, 
upon  which  our  Church  in  time  past  bestowred  much  labor,  but 
which  for  several  years  has  been  turned  away  from  us,  is  again 
becoming  accessible  to  our  influence.  Opportunities  to  preach 
to  their  congregations  should  be  diligently  improved.  The  Col- 
ored Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America,  organized  by  us 
a  decade  ago  at  the  request  of  the  remnant  of  our  colored  mem- 
bership, has  maintained  its  integrity  and  made  some  progress. 
Thev  are  in  great  need  of  facilities  for  providing  themselves  with 


OUR    RESPONSIBILITY   TO    THE    NEGROES.  469 

suitable  pastors  and  teachers  of  their  own  race.     Whatever  as-    1:I  ;I:ANT- 
sistance  we  can  render  them,  in  this  respect  especially,  will  be 
well  bestowed,  and  we  invite  to  this  subject  your  favorable  con- 
sideration." 

Since  this  time  each  succeeding  General  Conference  has  taken 
pronounced  ground  on  the  subject  of  our  duty  in  this  connection; 
but  the  execution  of  our  resolutions  has  been  characterized,  I 
fear,  by  much  timidity  and  little  enthusiasm. 

We  have  charged,  it  is  true,  our  General  Board  of  Education 
with  the  oversight  of  our  work  for  him,  and  we  have  an  institu- 
tion, Paine  Institute,  Augusta,  Ga.,  for  the  support  of  which  an 
assessment  is  levied  upon  our  entire  connection,  and  extra  col- 
lections have  been  taken  from  time  to  time  for  buildings  and 

T-I  FT  Our  relations 

equipment.     We  also  pay  the  salary  of  the  President  of  Lane    with  pame 
Institute,  Jackson,  Tenn.,  and  give  respectful  attention  and  some   and  Lane  In~ 

...  .  r        1  i  /—i  i  i          T  statutes. 

aid  and  succor  to  representatives  ot  colored  Churches ;  but  it  our 
missionary  enterprises,  for  instance,  were  as  poorly  organized 
and  administered  as  our  enterprises  for  the  negro,  we  would 
merit  and  receive  utter  failure  and  pity,  if  not  contempt.  In  our 
District  and  Quarterly  Conferences  we  inquire  with  regularity 
with  regard  to  the  discharge  of  our  duty  in  the  matters  of  mis- 
sions, education,  Church  extension,  etc.,  but  we  do  not  ask,  ex- 
cept in  spots,  about  the  negro.  Wre  can  never  say  even  in  the 
particular  of  organization  that  we  have  done  our  best  in  this  mat- 
ter till  the  state  of  the  negro  is  made  in  our  Annual,  District, 
Quarterly,  and  Church  Conferences  one  of  the  orders  of  the  day. 
It  is  probably  true  that  a  large  number  of  the  present  generation 
of  our  pastors  have  never  preached  to  the  negro.  This  is  un- 
fortunate, and  it  is  our  fault.  I  most  earnestly  hope  to  live  to  see 
the  day  when  every  preacher  of  us  shall  gladly  meet  a  constitu- 
tional requirement  to  preach  to  the  negroes  once  a  quarter  at 
least,  and  when  each  presiding  elder  shall  ask  in  each  Quarterly 
Conference  if  the  pastor  has  performed  this  duty. 

Our  fathers  gathered  before  and  during  the  war  a  large  num- 
ber of  negroes  into  our  communion  ;  and  though  it  was  perhaps 
inevitable,  by  extraneous  causes,  I  personally  believe  that  it  was 
bad  ecclesiastical  statesmanship  and  a  mistaken  social  and  reli- 
gious step  to  erect  them,  with  such  clear  and  rigid  lines  of 
demarcation,  into  separate  Churches  This  was  the  wedge,  more 
than  even  the  war,  which  split  black  and  white  into  separate 
camps,  and  set  us  socially  and  religiously  over  against  one  an- 


47°  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

other,  as  the  war  did  politically.  It  is  certain  that  neither  black 
nor  white  desires  what  we  call  organic  union,  but  we  have  very 
little  faith  in  the  declaration  of  Scripture  that  God  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  if  we  are  unable  and  unwilling  to 
establish  and  perpetuate  a  dignified  compact  and  federation  as 
between  men  and  men. 

Perhaps  the  saddest  fact  about  the  negroes,  and  first  to  be  re- 
membered, is  that  millions  of  them  are  unconscious  of  the  world 

in  which  thev  live,  know  no  future,  and  have  no  high  ideals.    By 

The  need.  ,.  .     J 

the  hundred  thousand  they  live  a  aay  at  a  time,  from  hand  to 

mouth,  and  are  concerned  about  nothing  better,  for  they  know- 
nothing  better.  Pitiful  beyond  all  picturing  is  this,  their  general 
condition.  Their  faculties  of  thought  and  their  religious  instincts 
need  development,  and  the  training  of  their  head  and  heart  is  in- 
finitely necessary  to  them.  Except  properly  trained  preachers 
and  teachers  be  provided  for  their  pulpits  and  schools,  they  will 
never  reach  an  estate  of  dignity  and  usefulness  among  the  peo- 
ples of  the  earth.  Above  everything  else,  they  lack  and  need  the 
quality  of  aspiration.  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Independent  this 
view  is  strongly  confirmed ;  and,  since  this  confirmation  comes 
from  the  North,  I  insert  it  the  more  gladly:  ''The  negro  is  suf- 
fering to-day  from  an  excess  of  industrial  training  divorced  from 
logical  thought  and  rational  reflection.  He  has  ceased  to  be  a 
clever  machine  directed  by  a  white  man,  and  is  adrift  without 
directive  power  in  himself.  The  consummate  union  of  reason, 
judgment,  and  knowledge,  which  makes  a  man  the  master  of 
matter  and  force,  is  the  product  of  higher  education  in  the  time- 
honored,  intellectual  sense  of  the  term ;  and  the  race  that  does 
not  have,  or  cannot  obtain,  it  is  doomed  to  hopeless  inferiority. 

Discipline  of  .  . 

both  hand  and  The  Africo-American  citizen  will  never  be  a  reliable  factor  in 
skilled  industry  until  he  has  had  actual  personal  experience  of 
mental  discipline.  It  is  but  interesting  to  see  what  statistics  re- 
veal as  to  the  educational  tendencies  of  negro  education  in  the 
United  States.  There  are  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  in- 
stitutions for  colored  youth  in  the  country  above  the  elementary 
grade.  These  enroll  in  secondary  departments  13,1/5  students; 
in  collegiate,  1,161  students;  and  in  professional  schools,  1,067. 
Here  is  presented  a  grand  total  of  15405  students  who  have 
passed  beyond  the  stage  of  elementary  study.  The  number  may 
seem  large ;  in  reality  it  is  less  than  two-thirds  per  cent  of  the 
colored  population,  or  on?  in  five  hundred,  whereas  for  the  white 


OUR    RESPONSIBILITY    TO    THE    NEGROES.  471 

race  one  in  every  one  hundred  and  sixteen  of  the  population  i? 
pursuing  studies  of  advanced  grade.  The  distance  between  the 
two,  leaving  heredity  out  of  the  question,  is  widened  by  univer- 
sity extension  clubs,  scientific  associations,  and  the  innumerable 
appliances  by  which  the  white  man  is  made  heir  of  the  best 
thought  of  all  ages  and  of  every  country."  Let  us  carefully  ob- 
serve in  this  connection  that  the  Independent  is  not  quoted  as  dis- 
counting industrial  education.  On  the  other  hand  this  journal, 
and  many  other  papers,  are  agreed  with  many  of  the  foremost 
thinkers  and  philanthropists  of  the  land  in  hearty  indorsement 
of  industrial  education.  The  point,  and  one  well  worth  making, 
is  that  such  education  should  be  accompanied  by  careful  menial 
training,  and  that  neither  white  nor  black  can  reach  high  efficien- 
cy, even  in  the  industries,  without  proportionate  "mental  disci- 
pline." 

It  will  be  permitted  me,  I  hope,  to  pay  in  this  connection  a 
sincere  though  inadequate  tribute  to  those  men  and  women  cf 
the  North  and  East  who  have  worked  among  the  negroes  in  the 
South,  and  to  the  philanthropy  of  the  men  and  women  of  those 
sections  who  have,  by  their  gifts,  made  it  possible  for  :hem  to 
teach  and  preach  among  us.  Their  bread  cast  upon  the  waters 
will  come  back  to  them.  The  unselfish  character  of  the  work 
which  they  have  wrought  among  us,  the  good  fruits  of  it,  and 
the  difficulties  which  have  encumbered  them  are  recognized  by 
thousands  of  good  men  and  women  in  the  Southland.  The  in- 
direct ministry  of  their  labors,  by  opening  the  way  for  a  belter 
understanding  between  all  sections  of  our  country,  i-  unques- 
tionably a  social  as  well  as  religious  contribution  of  great  im- 
portance. If  mistakes  have  been  made,  they  were  in  :Iie  main 
such  as  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  were  unavoidable  ;  and  if 
all  the  good  which  has  been  done  by  each  foreign  dollar  were 
known,  these  dollars  would  be  doubled  every  year. 

The  negro  question  has  been,  and  will  remain,  a  national  ques- 
tion, and  is  not  a  burden  which  any  one  section  of  this  country 
can  safely  shift  upon  any  other  section.  It  knocks  loudly  an.' 
ominously  at  every  door  in  the  United  States.  The  enactment  ci 
laws  could  not  confine  it  within  limits  ;  for  it  would  remain,  it: 
spite  of  any  and  all  manner  of  legislation,  a  national  question. 

But,  while  the  question  is  national,  it  must  needs  be  solved 
principally  in  the  South  and  by  the  South  ;  because  of  the  phys- 
ical fact  that  in  the  South  the  negro  has  his  local  habitation 


472 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


HIGHAM. 


Our  problem. 


The  South  the 
final  adminis- 
trator. 


and  his  home,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  the  question  on  its  particular 
merits  and  in  the  light  of  sudi  approximately  parallel  history  as 
there  is,  is  likely  to  remain  in  the  South.  History  teaches  us  that 
local  questions  are  not  to  be  solved  by  foreign  powers  or  agencies. 
England,  for  instance,  has  had  many  colonies,  but  she  has  never 
had  a  prosperous  colony  which  did  not  have,  so  far  as  its  internal 
concerns  went,  the  right  of  self-government.  Less  and  less  is 
this  a  question  of  domestics ;  more  and  more  is  it  a  domestic 
question  domiciled  in  the  South.  Most  of  all  its  aspects  imme- 
diately and  particularly  concern  the  South.  The  negro  is  at  our 
doors ;  we  look  into  his  face  every  day.  But,  though  the  im- 
mediate administration  must  needs  fall  on  the  South,  yet,  because 
of  the  connectionalism  of  the  United  States  government,  its 
happy  solution  will  be  impossible  except  through  the  concurrent 
assistance  of  all  parts  of  the  nation.  And  no  part  of  the  country 
can  afford  to  decline  assistance  in  this  matter,  because,  if  it  should 
become  a  sore  in  the  South,  its  contagion  would  most  sttrely 
extend  to  the  entire  commonwealth.  If  institutions  and  people 
shall  lie  dead  in  the  South  on  account  of  the  negro  question,  in- 
stitutions and  people  will  lie  dead  all  over  the  country.  He  is 
an  item  in  our  national  life,  and  his  prosperity  means  the  pros- 
perity of  us  all — North,  South,  East,  and  West.  All  sections, 
therefore,  ought  to  help  in  the  solution  of  this  question.  There 
are  some  people,  of  course,  who  do  not  believe  this ;  but  there 
were  a  great  many  people  who  did  not  believe  Paul  when  he  said, 
"None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself;"  and 
it  is  only  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  the  full- 
ness of  that  utterance  is  being  recognized,  in  the  legislative 
halls  of  the  world,  as  involving  as  well  the  declaration  of  a  great 
social,  civil,  and  political  maxim  as  the  announcement  of  a  great 
religious  principle.  Many  men  at  the  North  have  great  respect 
for  the  views  of  Bishop  Haygood.  This  bishop  had,  among  other 
abilities,  a  happy  use  of  the  parenthesis.  In  a  parenthesis  in  hi? 
"Brother  in  Black,"  in  a  connection  which  conceded  that  the 
oversight  and  development  of  the  negro  had  been  since  the  war. 
and  at  the  time  he  wrote  was  largely,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Xorth,  he  said  :  "It  is  only  for  a  while." 

That  the  South  will  be  the  final  administrator  in  this  matter, 
and  that  the  North  must  less  and  less  adjudicate  it,  finally  giving 
back  into  the  hands  of  the  South  the  work  they  took  out  of  hci 
;  when  Lee  surrendered  his  unstained  sword  into  the  mag-- 


OUR    RESPONSIBILITY   TO    THE    NEGROES.  473 

nanimous  hands  of  Ulysses  Grant,  is  coming  to  be  generally  BIOHAM- 
believed  by  the  men  who  best  know  the  conditions  of  the  ques- 
tion. Between  the  South  and  all  other  helpers  of  the  negro,  there 
should  be  a  fair  valuation  resulting  in  mutual  respect  and  a  kind 
spirit.  The  gifts  of  the  North  to  the  negro  will  never  do  the  most 
good  until  they  are  administered  by  the  South.  This  view  of  the 
situation  may  be  stated,  but  no  self-respecting  Southern  man 
would  make  an  argument  looking  to  the  establishment  of  the 
competency  of  the  South  to  receive  and  to  administer  for  the 
negro.  Our  social,  civil,  and  political  forces  and  institutions  have 
suffered  dreadful  shock  and  pitiless  challenge.  But  in  the  face 
of  unparalleled  misfortunes  we  have  sought  these  thirty-five  years 
to  solve  our  unexampled  problems.  We  still  work  away  and 
run,  we  trust  with  becoming  measure  of  patience,  the  race  which 
is  set  before  us.  That  we  are  willing  and  able  to  expedite  the 
improvement  of  the  negro,  and  to  multiply  and  give  full  effect 
and  free  course  to  the  assistance  he  may  get  beyond  our  borders, 
will,  we  doubt  not,  in  due  time  be  conceded.  We  believe  that  we 
will  be  chargeable  and  excuseless  before  mankind  and  in  the 
sight  of  God  in  that  measure  in  which  we  are  remiss  in  the  dis- 
charge of  our  duty  to  our  negro  neighbor.  We  are  as  sure  that 
a  day  will  come  which  shall  decree  for  us  and  all  what  is  just. 
We  shall  finally  be  trusted,  and  the  first  fruits  of  that  trust  shall 
be  such  a  Christian  cooperation  between  us  and  all  other  friends 
of  the  negro  as  shall  bring  him  blessings,  fundamental  and  abid- 
ing, and  a  happy  solution  of  what  we  call,  far  in  advance  of  its 
culmination,  "The  Negro  Question." 

How  unfitting  it  would  be  to  close  this  paper  without  special 
mention  of  Atticus  G.  Haygoocl,  who  was  the  high-water  mark 
of  the  South's  interest  in  her  former  slaves !  He  was  ahead  of 
many,  doubtless  even  of  the  great  majority  of  his  people,  but  in 
no  small  degree  were  assembled  in  him  the  conscience  and  hearty 
good  will  of  the  South  for  the  negro.  And  yet  no  soldier  ever 
did  a  braver  thing  than  did  Dr.  Hay  good  when  he  published 
"Our  Brother  in  Black,"  and  it  is  worth  while  to  point  out  what 
manner  of  spirit  it  was  that  measured  him  up  to  his  fine  deed. 
When  the  manuscript  was  finished  and  the  tired  pen  laid  wearily  A  Pi0neer- 
aside,  the  fear  came  upon  him  that  if  he  published  it  he  might 
ostracize  himself  and  his  loved  ones.  Several  years  thereafter, 
when  one  whose  soul  was  knit  to  his  own  asked  him  how  he 
brought  himself  to  dare  private  and  public  opinion  and  publish 


474  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

that  book,  he  modestly  replied :  "I  spread  its  pages  on  the  bed  in 
front  of  me  and,  kneeling  down,  I  asked  what  would  Jesus  do, 
and  answered  that  question  for  the  judgment  day."  And  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  of  us,  whether  we  think  it  or  not,  will,  as  between 
us  and  the  negro  man,  make  history  these  passing  years  which 
we  shall  meet  at  the  judgment  day. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT,  THE  NEEDS,  AND  THE  OUT- 
LOOK OF  THE  PAINE  INSTITUTE. 

REV.    GEORGE    W.    WALKER. 

1  WISH  to  speak  briefly  on  the  development,  the  needs,  and 
the  outlook  of  the  Paine  Institute — the  only  definite  work  that 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  is  doing  for  the  colored 
man  ;  the  only  definite  work  that  any  Southern  people  directly 
are  doing  for  the  colored  man ;  the  only  definite  work  that  any 
body  of  ex-slaveholders  is  doing  for  the  children  of  their  former 
slaves. 

Paine  Institute,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  Colored  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  was  organized  and  put  to  work  in  1884, 
situated  at  Augusta,  Ga.  Dr.  Morgan  Callaway,  Vice  President 
of  Emory  College,  was  its  first  President.  We  had  no  home  in 
which  to  locate  this  school.  The  citizens  of  Augusta  said  that 
they  did  not  want  any  such  schools  taught  in  their  midst.  My 
own  mother  (I  shall  be  permitted  to  say  it  in  this  presence),  a 
sister  of  Bishop  Wightman,  said  that  it  was  a  noble  work,  but 
she  wished  deep  clown  in  her  heart  that  God  had  called  some 
other  mother's  son  to  do  the  work.  I  state  this  to  let  you  know 
the  prejudice  and  the  lack  of  interest  into  the  face  of  which,  by 
God's  grace  and  the  assistance  of  the  brethren  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  I  went,  confidently  expecting  success 
in  Jesus  Christ. 

We  had  our  schools  in  some  small  rented  rooms  over  a  store 
on  Broad  Street.  Dr.  Morgan  Callaway  said  that  he  wanted  the 
citizens  to  see  what  we  were  trying  to  do.  The  second  year  of 
the  school,  when  we  came  to  the  close  of  the  session,  there  was 
only  twentv-five  dollars  in  the  treasurv,  with  the  three  teachers 


PAINE   INSTITUTE.  475 

to  pay,  four  months  of  holidays  stretching  out  before  us, 
and  no  telling  where  the  money  would  come  from.  Friends,  net 
knowing  the  condition  of  the  institution,  invited  the  lady  teacher  Tjv>  f  ,tt  „, 
to  visit  them  in  Norfolk,  Va.  Friends  of  the  other  teacher  in- 
vited him  to  visit  them  at  Oxford,  Ga.  The  President  had  an 
invitation  to  preach  at  a  Church  in  Lexington,  Mo.,  while  its 
pastor  went  to  Florida  for  his  health.  Before  that  appointment 
was  out,  the  President  had  a  call  to  preach  to  an  independent 
Methodist  Church  in  Baltimore ;  and  it  was  in  Baltimore  that 
I,  a  Methodist  preacher,  received  my  first  call  from  an  inde- 
pendent Church,  asking  me  to  take  charge  of  it  as  their  pastor, 
and  offering  me  a  little  more  salary  than  was  being  paid  at  Au- 
gusta, which  was  a  thousand  dollars.  While  there  I  received  the 
gratifying  intelligence  that  Rev.  Moses  U.  Payne,  a  local  preacher 
of  Missouri,  and  who  had  made  his  fortune  largely  here  in  New 
Orleans,  had  given  the  school  $25,000  as  the  commencement  of  A  g-:ft. 
an  endowment  fund.  And  yet,  so  afraid  was  Moses  U.  Payne 
that  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  would  let  go  the  work  too 
early,  he  provided  that  the  interest  from  this  amount  should  go  to 
pay  white  teachers  rather  than  colored,  fearing  only  that  we 
would  let  it  go  too  soon. 

From  that  small  beginning,  with  a  fidelity  that  is  interesting 
to  one  who  was  in  the  midst  of  it,  we  have  gone  on  until,  during 
the  last  session  (a  small  amount  compared  to  what  our  North- 
ern brethren  and  brethren  elsewhere  are  doing,  but  remarkably 
large  when  you  consider  the  source  from  which  it  comes  and  the 
prejudice  and  lack  of  interest  which,  to-day,!  thank  God, are  giv- 
ing way)  there  was  $6,541.43  contributed  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  for  this  work.  Besides,  under  the  manage- 
ment and  direction  of  Dr.  Bigham,  who  has  just  spoken,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  has  put  there  three  com- 
fortable buildings:  the  Haygood  Memorial  Hall,  a  three-story 
brick  building  with  a  mansard  roof,  covering  a  comfortable  dor- 
mitory for  the  boys ;  the  President's  residence  ;  and  a  home  fitted 
up  for  the  matron,  and  a  girls'  dormitory,  called,  after  the  great 
bishop,  Holsey  Hall.  We  have  a  tract  of  land  of  ten  acres  upon 
which  these  three  buildings  stand. 

So  much  for  the  development  of  the  material  side  of  this  school. 
When  \ve  opened  the  school  the  delicacy  of  the  position  was  most 
trying.  To  go  too  far  in  one  direction  crippled  our  financial  side. 
and  we  would  have  had  the  disapprobation  of  our  white  brethren  : 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

not  to  go  far  enough  in  a  certain  direction  would  cripple  our 
patronage — Charybdis  and  Scylla,  if  ever  poor  mortal  man  had 
to  sail  between  them. 

We  went  a  year  without  any  curriculum,  for  the  Church  we 
were  working  for  didn't  know  what  was  needed,  and  the  colored 
man  we  were  working  with  didn't  know  exactly  what  he  wanted. 
Yet,  little  by  little,  the  school  grew  and  developed.  A  lady  said 
to  one  of  the  girls,  "Jane,  where  have  you  been  all  these  days 
that  I  haven't  seen  you?"  and  Jane  instantly  replied,  "O,  ma'am, 
gentleman.  I  am  going  to  school  to  one  of  the  finest  Yankee  gentlemen  you 
ever  saw."  And  the  Yankee  gentleman  was  a  South  Carolinian. 
A  young  man,  a  promising  boy,  made  his  first  trip  up  North. 
He  came  back  and  said :  "Professor,  I  have  been  to  your  home." 
I  said  :  "Where  is  that  ?"  He  said  :  "Washington,  D.  C."  I  said : 
"I  don't  live  there."  "Well,  I  have  been  to  New  York."  "But 
I  don't  live  there."  "I  have  been  to  Boston."  "But  I  don't  live 
there."  "Well,  where  do  you  live?"  and  I  said,  "Just  across  the 
Savannah  river." 

Little  by  little  pupils  commenced  coming  to  us.  The  colored 
man  didn't  have  confidence  in  the  white  brethren  giving  him  any 
more  in  the  Paine  Institute  than  a  little  catechism  and  a  little 
Sunday  school  work,  and  so  their  best  children  didn't  come. 

I  picked  up  a  boy  in  the  streets  of  Augusta  who  wanted  an 
education.  I  found  him  bright  and  studious,  and  I  got  him  ready 
for  the  junior  class  of  Brown  University,  in  the  city  of  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.  I  sent  him  there,  and  he  won  a  scholarship  on  his 
Greek.  On  Saturday  he  posted  books  for  a  barber  shop.  He 
cut  down  his  expenses  to  seven  dollars  per  month,  which  I  was 
happy  to  be  able  to  pay  in  those  days,  not  having  a  family  of 
my  own.  He  graduated  two  years  afterwards  from  Brown  Uni- 
joim  wesity  versity,  the  fourth  in  the  Greek  class.  There  were  forty-eight  in 
his  class,  and  he  stood  an  average  of  fourteenth  in  the  whole 
class — the  only  negro  in  the  school.  His  standing-  in  Greek  con- 
ferred upon  him  a  scholarship  in  the  American  School  at  Athens, 
Greece.  I  never  expected  to  see  Athens,  but  I  gave  to  that  boy 
all  my  sainted  father  gave  me — the  best  opportunities  and  ad- 
vantages within  my  reach.  He  went  to  the  American  School  in 
Athens,  Greece,  and  there  he  met  prejudice,  for  in  that  school 
they  didn't  want  a  negro  to  board,  so  that  they  put  the  price  so 
high  that  my  boy,  John  Wesley  Gilbert  (a  good  Methodist  name, 
you  see)  couldn't  go  into  the  school  and  board.  But  he  had  been 


PAINE    INSTITUTE.  477 

trained  with  the  Southern  Methodist  people,  and  he  knew  what  WAt-KE«- 
was  expected ;  and  so  he  turned  aside  and,  without  breathing  a 
sigh  or  shedding-  a  tear,  went  into  a  Greek  home,  got  a  modern 
Greek   Grammar,   studied  the   language,   and  talked  with   that 
family. 

By  and  by  some  Boston  ladies  came  out  there  who  wanted  to  go 
through  the  Peloponnesus,  and  desired  a  guide.  It  required  fifty 
dollars  more  before  my  boy  could  go  through  that  school,  and 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  didn't  have  the  fifty  dollars  then,  and  I 
didn't  know  anybody  sufficiently  interested  in  the  work  to  con- 
tribute the  fifty  dollars.  Well,  these  ladies  wanted  a  guide,  and 
the  local  director  in  Athens  gave  them  my  boy,  because  he  knew 
the  modern  Greek  language  better  than  any  other  student  in 
the  school.  He  went  around  the  Peloponnesus,  showing  these 
ladies  its  towns,  and  came  out  and  received  his  paper,  and  when 
presented  to  Brown  University  it  gave  him  the  degree  of  A.M. 

That  was  one  boy.  There  are  a  few  girls  that  we  have  grad- 
uated from  cur  collegiate  department.  One  of  them  is  just  now 
in  London  on  her  return  from  Paris,  France,  where  she  has  been 
spending  a  year  perfecting  herself  in  language,  music,  and  dress- 
making. This  girl  taught  music  in  New  York,  and  after  getting 
what  she  could  in  our  schools,  and  saving  three  or  four  hundred 
dollars,  she  spent  it  in  Paris  to  improve  herself. 

A  boy  came  to  us  from  Arkansas  (I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  have 
lime  to  talk  about  our  needs).  He  was  the  poorest  specimen  of 
a  colored  boy  you  could  see  anywhere,  and  I  said  :  "Why  did  they 
send  him  to  me?"  He  stayed  four  years,  got  a  taste  of  it,  and 
concluded  to  stay  four  years  longer.  lie  was  no  sooner  out  of 
school  than  the  colored  Conference  of  Arkansas  put  him  at  the 
head  of  their  Conference  school. 

Under  the  wise  provision  of  13r.  Morgan  Callaway,  the  Col- 
ored Methodist  Episcopal  Church  raises  money  and  puts  young 
ministers  there  for  us  to  educate-.  The  colored  Church  with 
which  we  arc  working  contributes  an  average  of  $2,000  annually 
for  the  support  of  these  young-  preachers:  and  they  have  come 
to  us  from  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Alabama, 
Florida.  Georgia.  Louisiana.  Kentucky,  and  Arkansas.  These 
young  men  (few  of  them  in  number.  1  grant  you)  have  gone  back 
and  are  teaching-  in  those  States  :  and  one  of  them  specially  is  do- 
ing- work  in  Missouri,  for  which  1  am  so  grateful.  He  sent  me 
a  paper  in  which  was  his  own  schoolliouse  and  that  of  the  white 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

people.  When  he  went  there  prejudice  or  disagreement  among 
the  colored  people  had  resulted  in  the  burning  down  of  their 
schoolhouse,  and  when  he  went  there  and  saw  the  children  of  his 
race  growing  up  without  school  facilities  he  opened  a  school  in 
his  own  church.  The  Board  of  Education  saw  this,  and  offered 
him  a  public  building  for  his  school,  and  not  long  afterwards 
$8,000  was  granted  by  the  county  to  build  two  schools — a  $5,000 
for  the  whites  and  a  $3,000  for  the  colored ;  and  my  boy  Brown 
(O,  I  love  him  with  a  full  heart,  and  he  is  the  blackest  fellow  you 
ever  saw  in  your  life)  was  put  by  these  trustees  at  the  head  of 
that  educational  movement  among  the  colored  people ;  and  he 
sent  me  back  the  paper  with  his  picture  in  it  and  the  statement 
that  he  was  graduated  from  the  Paine  Institute. 

His  wife  is  also  a  graduate  from  our  school,  and  when  she  went 
there  she  began  to  keep  her  home  so  neat  that  other  colored  la- 
dies in  that  community  said  that  they  were  not  going  to  be  out- 
done by  the  preacher's  wife,  and  so  they  fixed  up  their  homes. 
And  the  preacher's  wife  is  doing  just  as  much  good  in  her  sphere 
as  the  preacher  is  in  his. 

Two  of  the  delegates  to  the  Ecumenical  Conference  that  meets 
in  London  next  September  go  as  graduates  from  our  school— 
R.  A.  Carter,  Secretary  of  the  Epworth  League,  and  John  Wesley 
Gilbert,  who  is  teaching  with  me  in  the  Paine  Institute.  I  forgot 
to  say  that  when  he  was  working  with  me  a  school  in  Missouri 
elected  him  a  bona  fide  professor  at  $1,400  a  year  and  a  residence. 
Gilbert  declined,  and  they  telegraphed  back  to  him,  ''What  is 
your  price  ?"  and  I  was  glad  deep  down  in  my  heart  to  see  that 
here  was  a  colored  brother  standing  by  me  who  could  not  be 
bought.  The  ground  of  his  declination  was  this :  "I  prefer  to 
be  working  with  the  white  people  in  trying  to  educate  my  people 
rather  than  go  to  any  other  field  I  cvould  select.'' 

The  other  day  we  had  a  disturbance  down  there  in  Augusta. 
A  white  man  was  shot  down  on  the  streets  by  a  negro,  and  the 
whiLe  boys  took  the  poor  colored  fellow  out  and  lynched  him. 
Something  was  said  in  a  colored  paper  that  sounded  harsh,  and 
a  white  mob  came  to  tear  down  the  office.  The  chief  of  police 
and  other  men  were  gathered  to  protect  it.  The  chief  of  police 
said  to  Gilbert :  "You  go  there  quietly  and  disperse  that  colored 
crowd."  Gilbert  said:  "I  am  no  policeman."  The  chief  said: 
"I  know  yen  are  not ;  but  if  I  go  there  with  my  brass  buttons 
and  my  uniform,  I  will  stir  up  resentment.  You  go  there.  Yon 


PAINE    INSTITUTE.  479 

are  a  citizen  whom  both  the  white  and  the  colored  people  re-  W-'-:KK:I 
spect,  and  they  will  listen  to  you."     So  Gilbert  accepted  the  sit- 
uation and  went  over  to  the  crowd  and  quietly  dispersed  them, 
on  the  assurance  that  the  men  who  were  there  would  protect 
the  house. 

Now  what  do  we  need?  We  need  a  heating  apparatus  the 
worst  in  the  world  in  Haygood  Hall.  We  utilize  some  stoves, 
but  when  the  wind  blows  down  the  chimneys  we  have  to  put  out 
the  fire  and  fudge  around  on  some  other  brother  whose  stove 
does  not  smoke.  We  need  the  painting  of  our  houses.  We  need 
an  enlargement  of  our  dormitory  department ;  we  were  over- 
crowded last  year.  We  need  an  enlargement  of  our  endowment. 
It  has  never  been  increased  since  Mr.  Payne  gave  it  to  us.  We 
need  all  this  enlargement ;  and  if  our  brethren  in  the  various 
Conferences  would  just  respond  and  send  up  the  little  amount 
that  we  ask  of  them  annually,  I  believe  it  is  the  best  investment 
we  could  possibly  make  by  letting  the  brethren  cooperate 
with  us. 

A  sheriff  came  up  there  one  day  from  one  of  the  lower  coun- 
ties to  arrest  one  of  the  boys.  I  wasn't  present,  but  as  soon  as 
I  found  out  that  he  was  arrested  I  went  down  immediately  with 
my  lawyer  and  went  on  the  boy's  bail.  Next  morning  I  went  "setrus^ 
down  to  meet  the  officer  who  had  come  from  the  adjoining  coun-  ^  'aiys-' 
ty,  and  I  said  :  "You  need  not  put  any  cuffs  on  that  boy ;  he  will 
go  with  you  just  as  if  I  were  going  along."  So  the  sheriff  spoke 
to  the  chief  of  police,  and  then  he  came  back  and  said:  "It's  all 
right ;  the  chief  says  it's  all  right."  And  when  they  carried  him 
there  the  chief  said:  "Dr.  Walker  trusts  his  boys."  Well. 
I  knew  that  boy,  and  I  knew  that  he  hadn't  been  doing  anything 
particularly  wrong,  and  I  knew  he  would  come  back,  and  he  did. 

Now  the  outlook  is  more  hopeful,  but  this  work  is  merely  a 
drop  in  the  bucket,  just  a  beginning;  and  the  Colored  [Methodist 
Church  in  America  looks  up  to  the  Church.  South.  It  has  con- 
fidence in  the  Paine  Institute,  and  we  ought  not  to  let  this  op- 
portunity slip. 

One  word  more.  In  this  day  of  the  popularity  of  industrial  ed- 
ucation, the  Church,  South,  must  remember  that  the  main  need 
of  to-clav  is  educated  ministers  ;  and  we  must  remember  that  the 

H63.G.   3,3    We. 

intellectual  world  shall  ever  govern,  rule,  and  control  the  indus-  as  hand 
trial  world ;  and  if  we  of  the  South  who  know  the  negro  men  and 
come  in  contact  with  them,  wilt  take  this  opportuntiy  which  God 


48°  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

has  given  us,  and  educate  and  train  in  the  Christian  religion  and 
in  Christian  education  to  the  very  highest  point  possible  the  col- 
ored man  and  the  colored  woman,  we  shall  render  ourselves  most 
acceptable  in  the  eyes  of  our  Master.  Brethren,  the  outlook 
that  is  before  us  is  grand.  May  God  give  us  grace  to  enter  into 
our  heritage  and  become  the  instrument  in  his  hands  of  accom- 
plishing great  good ! 


LANE  COLLEGE. 

REV.    T.    F.    SAUNDERS,    PRESIDENT. 

LANE  COLLEGE  was  founded  by  the  Colored  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  America,  and  is  located  at  Jackson,  Tenn.  It  was 
organized  in  1882,  and  was  chartered  under  the  laws  of  Tennes- 
see in  1884. 

In  the  fall  of  1888,  Dr.  O.  P.  Fitzgerald,  editor  of  the  Christian 
Advocate,  Rev.  W.  C.  Dunlap,  and  Bishop  Isaac  Lane  came  to 
the  Memphis  Conference  seeking  a  member  of  that  body  to  take 
Berianin-s.  charge  of  the  school.  The  writer  was  selected,  and  Bishop  J.  C. 
Keener  appointed  him  to  that  work  at  that  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence. Up  to  that  time  but  little  more  than  a  start  had  been  made. 
Bishop  Lane  was  urged  to  undertake  the  task  of  providing  more 
suitable  buildings.  With  much  hesitation  he  entered  upon  the 
work,  and  everywhere  he  presented  the  cause  to  his  own  Church 
and  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  he  met  with  liberal  responses. 

We  have  erected  a  three-story  brick  building  with  ten  recita- 
tion rooms,  dormitories  for  girls  and  boys,  industrial  buildings. 
with  necessary  tools  and  printing  press  and  fixtures,  doing  our 
own  work.  The  total  valuation  of  the  property  is  about  $3>- 
ooo.  Our  necessities  have  multiplied  tenfold  as  we  have  ad- 
vanced. WTe  had  on  the  roll  the  last  session  two  hundred  and 

JU  t'S  u  j  1 5  „ 

seventy-three  scholars.  The  present  session  has  a  roll  of  three 
hundred.  We  have  in  the  theological  department  a  class  of  thir- 
ty-four young  preachers  from  the  surrounding  States.  These 
young  ministers  are  preparing  themselves  for  any  field  of  labor  to 
which  the  providence  of  God  may  call  or  the  Church  send  them. 
We  have  sent  out  as  graduates  from  the  normal  department  one 
hundred  young  men  and  women.  They  are  law-abiding,  self- 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO.  481 

governing,  and  God-fearing  citizens.  They  are  in  demand  as 
school-teachers,  Sunday  school  workers,  and  are  helpful  to  pas- 
tors. Our  preachers  are  making  efficient  pastors,  and  are  filling 
responsible  positions.  Some  are  presiding  elders,  some  are  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Conference.  One  of  our  graduates  will  rep- 
resent the  Church  in  the  Ecumenical  Conference  to  be  held  in 
London,  England.  We  have  twenty  young  men  and  women  who 
are  willing  to  go  as  missionaries  to  Africa  or  Cuba.  The  College 
Department  has  not  been  in  operation  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  send  out  any  graduates. 

Lane  College  is  a  distinctively  Christian  institution.  It  has 
not  assumed  the  task  of  giving  secular  education  to  the  colored 
population  of  the  South.  The  Southern  States  expended,  ac- 
cording to  the  report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Ed- 
ucation between  1869  and  1898  in  schools  for  negroes,  $101,- 
860,661. 

But  our  work  is  for  those  who  are  seeking  the  advantage  of  a 
Christian  education ;  for  the  preparation  of  ministers  for  their 
calling,  and  laymen  for  their  life  work.  Lane  College  stands  for 
true  religion,  a  consecrated  ministry,  a  holy  Church,  for  all  that 
is  good  in  our  civilization,  for  peace  and  love  and  good  will  to  ev- 
ery member  of  the  human  family,  and  for  a  world-wide  evangeliza- 
tion. We  ask  the  prayers  and  sympathy  and  help  of  our  friends. 


SAUNDEKS. 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  XEGRO. 


Xo  people  should  have  more  vital  interest  in  the  negro  than 
the  Southern  white  man.  Xo  people  have  so  much  to  gain  from 
his  success;  no  people  have  so  much  to  lose  if  he  fails.  A  de- 
graded womanhood  of  the  negro  race  means  in  many  cases  a 
degraded  manhood  in  the  while  race.  We  go  up  together  and 
we  remain  do\vn  together.  There  are  potential  reasons  why  it 
is  a  privilege  for  me  to  thank  and  congratulate  most  earnestly  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  for  its  deep  interest  and 
generous  help  to  my  race.  In  its  name  I  thank  vou  for  the  aid 
120 


482 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


WASHINGTON. 


Y/hat  has 
Seen  done  by 
Methodism. 


The  proper 
kind  of  educa- 
tion. 


and  encouragement  you  have  given  for  Church  extension  in  hun- 
dreds of  local  communities,  and  especially  for  what  you  have 
done  and  are  doing  at  Paine  Institute,  Augusta,  Ga.,  as  well  as  for 
help  in  education  at  other  points.  Every  dollar  that  your  Church 
puts  into  the  education  or  evangelization  of  the  negro  will  be  an 
interest-bearing  dollar  from  which  you  and  your  children  will 
draw  interest  during  the  centuries  that  are  to  come.  Every  dol- 
lar thus  spent  will  add  to  the  industrial,  intellectual,  and  religious 
value  of  each  community  in  the  South. 

If  a  dollar  spent  in  China  adds  to  the  value  of  a  Chinaman,  it 
will  add  to  the  value  of  a  negro  in  Louisiana.  If  a  dollar  spent  in 
India  adds  to  the  value  of  an  Indian,  it  will  help  a  negro  in  Ala- 
bama. If  a  dollar  spent  in  the  Philippine  Islands  makes  a  better 
citizen,  it  will  also  make  a  better  citizen  in  your  community.  You 
cannot  by  any  process  of  reasoning  escape  the  duty  which  every 
white  man  owes  to  the  negro  in  his  own  community.  If  for  no 
higher  reason,  the  standard  of  negro  life  should  be  raised  in  the 
interest  of  self-protection.  In  its  wise,  prudent,  and  broad  effort 
to  assist  in  the  education  of  the  negro  the  Methodist  Church, 
South,  should  have  the  hearty  and  generous  support  of  the  white 
South. 

The  right  kind  of  education  for  the  negro  will  make  the  whole 
South  more  prosperous,  more  productive,  more  law-abiding,  and 
will  cement  that  friendship  between  races  which  will  forever  set 
at  rest  all  fear  of  racial  disturbances. 

We  want  not  only  to  educate  the  negro,  but  we  must  be  sure 
while  doing  so  that  we  fit  him  to  appreciate  his  present  surround- 
ings and  the  opportunities  that  are  about  his  door. 

The  negro  should  be  educated  to  believe  that  every  Southern 
white  man  is  not  his  enemy,  and  that  a  friend  in  the  South  is  as 
valuable  to  him  as  one  in  the  North.  The  negro  should  be  taught 
that  he  will  get  upon  his  feet  and  be  respected  in  proportion  as 
he  leads  a  simple,  humble,  pure  life;  that  in  proportion  as  he 
makes  himself  useful  to  the  community  in  which  he  lives ;  learns 
to  do  a  common  thing  in  an  uncommon  manner,  he  will  be  rec- 
ognized and  appreciated.  No  man  who  learns  to  do  a  thing,  how- 
ever humble  it  may  be,  better  than  any  one  else  is  long  left  with- 
out reward. 

The  negro  will  gain  more  by  making  himself  worthy  of  priv- 
ileges than  by  merely  demanding  them.  No  one  can  force  him- 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO.  483 

self  into  recognition,  but  any  one  can  make  himself  worthy  of  WASHINGTON. 
recognition.    With  worth  will  come  reward.  Wlth  wortt 

I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  in  every  part  of  the  country  reward. 
the  negro  now  recognizes  as  never  before  that  in  too  many  cases 
he  began  at  the  top  round  of  life  instead  of  at  the  bottom ;  that  he 
omitted  to  recognize  that  true  citizenship  and  power  has  its  foun- 
dation in  ownership  of  property,  tax-paying  industries,  intelli- 
gence, and  high  Christian  character. 

Whereas  a  few  years  ago  the  negro  looked  with  contempt  and 
derision  upon  industrial  education,  he  now  in  most  cases  hails 
this  form  of  education  with  delight. 

On  two  vital  points  I  very  much  fear  that  the  black  man  has 
been  and  is  now  misunderstood.  My  own  life  is  largely  spent 
among  the  rank  and  file  of  my  people,  and  I  feel  that  I  know 
the  feelings  and  ambitions  of  my  race  pretty  well. 

The  intelligent  negro  is  not  seeking  what  is  termed  social 
equality,  nor  is  the  intelligent  negro  seeking  to  get  to  the  point  what  negroes 
where  he  can  exercise  political  control  over  the  white  man.    What  seek< 
the  intelligent  negro  is  striving  for  is  the  opportunity  to  earn  a 
living,  to  be  sure  of  protection  of  life  and  property,  and  to  be 
safe  in  those  privileges  which  are  guaranteed  to  all  citizens  by  the 
State  and  Federal  constitutions. 

A  large  part  of  the  money  in  the  South  is  invested  in  agricul- 
tural lands.  The  negro  is  the  one  on  whom  the  white  man  de- 
pends in  a  very  large  degree  for  agricultural  labor.  It  is  most  im- 
portant for  the  negro's  own  sake,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  the 
white  man,  that  he  be  encouraged  to  remain  in  the  agricultural 
districts.  In  agriculture  the  negro,  as  a  rule,  is  at  his  best.  In 
city  life,  in  too  many  cases,  he  yields  to  temptations,  and  is  not 
equal  to  the  severe  competition  which  city  life  demands.  The 
negro,  however,  will  not  remain  in  the  rural  districts  unless  he 

is  sure  of  protection  of  life  and  property.    Neither  will  he  remain  The  neere  and 

.  ...  i  1        1    -      -1-  •  1  agriculture. 

in  the  country  districts  unless  the  school  facilities  are  made  as 

good  as  they  are  in  the  city.  Every  lynching,  every  act  of  law- 
lessness in  the  country  districts  drives  hundreds  of  negroes  to 
the  city.  Every  withdrawal  of  school  opportunities  in  the  coun- 
try districts  tempts  the  negro  to  move  his  family  to  the  city, 
where  the  schools  offer  more  inviting  opportunities. 

In  nearly  every  part  of  the  South  where  I  have  traveled  I  have 
found  the  intelligent,  law-abiding,  industrious,  property-holding, 
tax-paying  negro  respected  and  honored  by  his  white  neighbors  ; 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

WASHINGTON.      3^  further,  I  have  found  them  ready  to  protect  such  a  man  in 
the  exercise  of  his  rights  as  a  citizen. 

I  have  sometimes  heard  it  said  by  Southern  men  that  the  South 
is  too  poor  to  educate  the  negro.    I  beg  to  reply  that  the  South 
is  too  poor  not  to  educate  him.     In  the  education  of  my  people, 
however,  we  should  remember  that  education  of  the  head  alone 
industrial          increases  one's  wants,  and  that  the  hand  should  be  educated  so 
training.  as  to  increase  his  ability  to  supply  these  increased  wants  along 

lines  at  which  he  can  find  employment.  The  negro  who  has  re- 
ceived education  of  head,  hand,  and  heart  is  not  the  criminal 
negro.  The  criminal  negro  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  is  ignorant, 
without  a  trade,  and  lacking  in  moral  and  religious  training. 

The  negro  who  learns  to  make  fifty  bushels  of  corn  grow  where 
only  twenty  grew  before  is  the  benefactor  of  every  white  and 
colored  man  in  that  community,  and  is  laying  the  foundation  for 
the  highest  civilization. 

In  saying  what  I  have  I  cannot,  I  do  not,  forget  the  generous 
manner  in  which  my  race  has  shared  with  you  in  the  distribution 
of  State  and  local  school  funds.  In  addition  to  this,  I  believe 
that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  time  has  come  when  the 
highest  and  most  cultured  and  Christian  manhood  and  woman- 
hood of  the  white  South  should  take  hold  in  each  community 
and  give  the  negro  such  a  helping  hand  as  will  make  the  peace, 
the  security,  and  prosperity  of  the  South  secure  during  all  the 
years  that  are  to  follow. 


AT  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  1865.  there  was  scarcely  an  edu- 
cated negro  physician  practicing  in  the  Southern  States,  and  the 
number  in  the  Xortli  was  very  small. 

The  medical  department  of  Howard  University,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  was  organized  in  1868,  and  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of 
the  organic  law  of  the  university,  was  "opened  to  all  without  re- 
gard 1 1  - 
proper  ; 


MEDICAL    EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGRO.  485 

238  white  and  315  colored  students  have  received  the  degree  of  «L'BBARD- 
M.D.  from  this  university. 

Meharry  Medical  College  was  organized  as  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Central  Tennessee  College,  now  Walden  University, 
Nashville,  Tenn.  It  was  opened  in  1876,  has  had  783  students  en- 
rolled and  410  graduates,  and  is  under  the  care  of  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  and  Southern  Education  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

Leonard  Medical  School,  of  Shaw  University,  Raleigh,  N.  C., 
was  established  in  1882,  and  has  had  106  graduates.  The  school  is 
supported  by  the  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society. 

The  Louisville  National  Medical  College,  Louisville,  Ky.,  was 

i   •         ooo  11         i       1  x-  Beginnings. 

opened  in  1888,  and  has  had  65  graduates. 

The  medical  department  of  New  Orleans  University,  New  Or- 
leans, La.,  was  organized  in  1889  ;  number  of  graduates,  43.  This 
also  is  under  the  care  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Southern  Edu- 
cation Society. 

A  medical  department  of  Knoxville  College,  Knoxvillc,  Tenn., 
was  organized  in  1805.  an^  nas  na^  two  graduates.  This  college 
is  supported  by  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  total  number  of  negro  physicians  who  have  been  graduated 
from  the  above-named  institutions,  not  including  the  present  year, 
is  Q41-  I  have  no  means  of  estimating  the  number  who  have 
graduated  from  Northern  medical  colleges.  T'ossiblv  ten  per  cent 
of  the  above  number  would  be  a  liberal  calculation,  making  a  total 
of  j  ,035. 

As  J  am  more  familiar  \vith  the  work  done  by  Meharry  Medical 
College  than  with  that  of  other  similar  institutions.  I  will  speak 
more  particularly  concerning  it. 

The  college  takes  its  name  from  five  Meharry  1/ro: hers  who 
have  contributed  liberally  toward  its  establishment  and  support. 

The  buildings  and  grounds  are  valued  at  $30.000.  It  has  a 
graded  course  of  four  years,  of  six  months  each,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Association  of  American  Me. Heal  Colleges.  Two  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  students  were  enrolled  the  last  session.  Of 
this  number,  27  had  received  literary  or  scientific  degrees  before 
commencing  the  study  of  medicine.  The  faculty  consists  of 
twentv  members. 


486 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Helpers. 


Graduates. 


of  white  citizens,  including  Mayor  Head,  of  Nashville,  who  spoke 
in  complimentary  terms  of  what  he  had  witnessed  on  this  occa- 
sion. 

It  is  only  a  matter  of  justice  to  the  medical  profession  of  Nash- 
ville, to  acknowledge  the  valuable  services  they  have  rendered  Me- 
harry  Medical  College,  from  its  incipiency  to  the  present  time,  and 
the  moral  and  professional  support  they  have  given  it. 

Two  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  were  formerly  surgeons  in 
the  Confederate  army.  Dr.  N.G. Tucker,  who  was  for  more  than 
twenty  years  Professor  of  Practice'  of  Medicine  at  Meharry,  was  a 
faithful  friend  of  the  college  and  a  safe  adviser  until  the  time  of  his 
death.  During  the  time  he  held  this  position  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  City  Council  and  chosen  President  of  that  body. 
He  afterwards  served  as  health  officer  of  Nashville  for  six  years. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Morgan,  who  was  for  many  years  dean  of  the  dental 
department  of  Vanderbilt  University,  and  with  whom  many  of  the 
present  audience  are  personally  acquainted,  has  served  as  trustee 
of  the  college  for  twenty-three  years.  His  sympathy  with  this 
work  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of  its  needs  and  requirements, 
made  him  a  wise  counselor  and  trusted  friend. 

As  it  has  often  been  charged  that  the  colored  graduates  of  high- 
er institutions  of  learning  do  not  profit  by  the  educational  advan- 
tages they  have  enjoyed,  and  resort  to  menial  occupations  for  ob- 
taining a  livelihood,  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  what  the  gradu- 
ates of  Meharry  are  now  doing.  Of  the  365  graduates  now  living, 
one  is  a  printer,  one  a  pharmacist,  one  a  medical  missionary,  one 
an  editor,  one  a  bishop  in  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  three  are  perma- 
nently disabled  on  account  of  sickness,  three  are  in  the  United 
States  service,  three  are  preaching,  ten  are  teachers,  one  a  dentist, 
the  occupation  of  ten  is  unknown,  while  the  remaining  three 
hundred  and  thirty-two  are  successfully  practicing  their  profes- 
sion. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  present  year  a  circular  letter  of  in- 
quiry was  sent  out  to  the  Alcharry  medical  alumni.  Among-  the 
questions  asked  were  the  following : 

1.  What  was  your  professional  income  for  1900? 

2.  What  is  the  value  of  real  estate  owned  by  you? 

3.  What  is  the  value  of  your  personal  property? 

4.  How  many  volumes  in  your  library? 

One  hundred  and  eighteen  replies  have  been  received  trom 


MEDICAL    EDUCATION    OF    THE    NEGRO.  487 

graduates   who  are  now  practicing  medicine  in  the  following    '"-^BARD. 
States  :  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Colorado,  Florida,  Georgia,  Illinois, 
Indiana,   Kentucky,   Kansas,   Louisiana,   Missouri,   Mississippi, 
Minnesota,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas, 
Oklahoma,  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  total  professional  income  received  for  1900  from  the  above 
mentioned  1 18  is  $170,191.  Average  income,  $1,441.  Eighty-nine 

Income  of 

reported  that  they  owned  real  estate  valued  at  $293,141 ;  average,  physicians. 
counting  the  entire  J 18,  $2,484.  The  greatest  amount  reported  by 
any  one,  $30,000.  The  value  of  personal  property  was  $140,218. 
Average,  $1,188.  Total  value  of  real  estate  and  personal  proper- 
ty, $433,359.  Average,  $3,673.  Number  of  volumes  in  libraries, 
16,173;  average,  127. 

Very  few,  if  any,  of  these  graduates  had  any  considerable 
amount  of  money  when  they  finished  their  medical  course,  and 
many  of  them  were  in  debt.  Few  have  received  any  financial  as- 
sistance from  parents  or  friends,  while  many  of  them  have  been 
compelled  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  their  less  fortunate  relatives. 

During  the  past  few  years  an  increasing  number  of  the  alumni 
of  Meharry,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  clinical  advantages  which  can 
be  obtained  only  in  large  cities,  have  taken  postgraduate  courses 
in  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago,  and  one  during 
the  past  summer  visited  Europe  and  attended  the  Royal  "Infirm- 
ary Hospital"  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

A  considerable  number  have  recently  been  paying  special  atten- 
tion to  surgery,  and  have  been  quite  successful  in  performing  capi- 
tal surgical  operations.  A  few  have  become  specialists.  Dr.  J. 
F.  McKinlev,  formerlv  of  Austin,  Tex.,  now  of  Chicago,  has 

i  •  -11  •  -1-  r    ,i  Negro  sur- 

achicved  an  enviable  reputation  in  treating  diseases  ot  the  eye,  georis. 
nose,  ear,  and  throat.  During  the  past  few  months  Dr.  J.  T.  Wil- 
son, of  Nashville,  class  of  1894,  and  Dr.  S.  L.  Mitcham,  of  Marked 
Tree.  Ark.,  class  of  1900,  each  successfully  performed  an  operation 
of  Csesarean  section.  Dr.  U.  G.  Mason  lias  served  with  satisfac- 
tion as  an  assistant  health  officer  at  Birmingham,  Ala.  Dr.  H.  M. 
Ccbb  was  recently  appointed  colored  city  physician  at  Yaldosta, 
Ga.  Dr.  A.  II.  Kenniebrew  is  resident  physician  at  Tuskesree 

L          *  O 

Normal  and  Industrial  Institute.  Tuskegee,  Ala.     Dr.  B.  A.  Mc- 
Lernore  served  as  coroner  for  several  years  in  the  county  in  which 
Fort  Scott.  Kans..  is  situated. 
Graduates  of  Meharrv  have  done  good  service  on  the  United 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


HUBBARD. 


States  Pension  Examining  Boards  in  Kentucky,  Alabama,  Mis- 
sissippi, and  Louisiana.  Dr.  B.  E.  Scruggs,  of  Huntsville,  Ala.,  at 

A  contrast.        or]e  tnTie  served  on  the  same  Board  with  his  former  master,  and 
the  kindliest  feeling  prevailed  between  them. 

During  the  last  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  at  Chattanooga,  Dr.  J. 
S.  Bass,  of  Murfreesboro,  volunteered  his  services  in  treating  the 
sick  in  that  afflicted  city.  A  very  large  per  cent  of  the  cases  he 
treated  recovered,  and  he  remained  at  his  post  as  long  as  his  serv- 
ices were  required.  On  his  return  to  his  home  he  was  tendered  a 
reception  by  the  white  citizens  of  Murfreesboro. 

A  graduate  of  the  class  of  1892,  who  was  not  considered  by  the 
faculty  as  a  student  of  any  great  promise,  who  was  poor  in  health 
and  purse,  had  a  wife  and  one  child  dependent  upon  him,  went  to 
a  small  city  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  a  short  time  after  finishing 
his  course.  He  reached  this  city  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  with 
only  two  dollars  in  his  possession.  The  day  following  his  arrival 
was  the  Sabbath.  He  attended  religious  services,  spoke  to  the 
people  and  told  them  he  had  come  to  them  as  a  physician  and 
asked  for  their  patronage.  On  Monday  he  was  called  upon  to  per- 
form a  surgical  operation,  for  which  he  received  a  fee  of  ten  dol- 
lars. As  time  passed  he  secured  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the 
people,  both  white  and  black,  as  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  and  soon 
established  a  good  practice.  Eight  years  passed  before  I  visited 
the  city  where  he  resided  and  learned  the  following:  He  owned 
a  well-stocked  drug  store  which  was  then  in  a  rented  building  on 
the  main  street  of  the  city;  he  was  then  completing  a  building 
which  was  to  contain  his  drug  store,  with  two  offices  in  the  rear, 

other  examples  an(j  Qn  ^Q  same  lot  was  a  comfortable  dwelling  house.     Across 

of  success. 

the  street  from  the  Episcopal  Church  he  also  owned  a  large  va- 
cant corner  lot,  and  near  the  Baptist  Church  another  lot.  tie  has 
a  professional  income  of  about  $2,000. 

In  the  city  uf  Nashville.  Dr.  R.  F.  Boyd,  class  of  1882,  lias  as 
large  a  practice,  probably,  as  any  doctor  in  that  city,  either  white 
or  colored.  He  owns  a  brick  building  on  Cedar  Street,  between 
the  Duncan  hotel  and  the  Catholic  cathedral.  This  building  is 
used  for  stores,  offices,  and  halls  for  secret  societies  and  public 
meeting's,  and  is  valued  at  Si  8, ceo. 

Five  years  a.^o  a  student  completed  his  course  at  Meharry,  who 
was  by  no  means  a  brilliant  voung  man,  but  possessed  a  large  fund 
of  common  sense.  Some  white  friends  ru'ave  him  Sioo  with  which 


MEDICAL    EDUCATION    OF    THE    NEGRO.  489 

to  make  a  start  in  professional  life,  and  he  decided  to  locate  in  a  "UBBARD. 
city  in  Kentucky.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  did  not  allow  his  medical  work  to  interfere  with  his 
religious  duties,  and  soon  proved  himself  to  be  the  pastor's  most 
valuable  assistant  and  adviser.  He  married  a  refined  and  educated 
young  lady.  I  recently  visited  their  home.  It  is  a  two-story  brick 
house  on  a  lot  that  fronts  ninety  feet  on  one  of  the  best  streets  of 
that  city.  I  called  unexpectedly  early  in  the  morning,  found  the 
house  in  excellent  order  and  finely  furnished,  and  in  fact  a  genu- 
ine Christian  home. 

If  dentistry  and  pharmacy  cannot  be  regarded  as  special  branch- 

J  -  Other  depart - 

es  of  medicine,  they  certainly  are  closely  related  to  it,  so  I  will  meats  of  the 
briefly  state  what  progress  the  colored  race  have  made  in  these  collcge- 
professions. 

Meharry  dental  department  was  opened  in  1886,  and  since  that 
time  forty-nine  students  have  completed  the  required  course  and 
received  the  degree  of  D.D.S.  They  have  been  welcomed  by  the 
white  dentists  of  the  South,  who  have  kindly  assisted  them  in  their 
work.  The  patronage  they  have  received  in  the  cities  where  they 
have  located  has  been  most  encouraging,  and  in  the  present  time 
there  is  a  promising  field  open  in  this  direction. 

This  school  is  a  member  of  the  National  Association  of  Den- 
tal Faculties,  and  is  perhaps  the  only  one  in  the  United  States 
which  requires  four  sessions  of  six  months  each  to  complete  a 
course  in  dentistry. 

The  pharmaceutical  department  was  organized  in  1889,  and  since 
that  time  forty-nine  young  men  and  nine  women  have  finished 
the  prescribed  course.  The  course  of  study  consists  of  three  ses- 
sions of  six  months  each.  The  graduates  of  this  school  either  own 
or  manage  about  twenty-five  drug  stores  in  different  parts  of  the 
South.  The  present  demand  for  qualified,  educated  negro  drug- 
gists far  exceeds  the  supply. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  death  rate  among  the  slave 
population  of  the  South,  before  emancipation,  was  less  than  that 
of  the  whites.  The  sudden  and  violent  change  in  the  social  and  comparative! 

,     -    ,.  ,     ,          •    •«  •         mortality. 

industrial  conditions  which  followed  the  close  of  the  civil  war  in- 
creased to  an  alarming  extent  the  death  rate  among  the  negro 
population.  While  the  mortality  probably  is  not  as  great  as  it  was 
some  years  ago,  it  is  still  very  large,  especially  among  the  urban 
population. 

According  to  the  last  report  of  the  health  officer  of  Nashville, 


490 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


HUBBARD. 


Death  rate 
from  pulmona- 
ry consump- 
tion. 


The  need. 


the  death  rate  for  the  white  population  was  17.17  per  cent,  and  for 
the  colored  population  30.03  per  cent ;  in  Richmond,  Va.,  it  was  12 
to  32 ;  Baltimore,  Md.,  17  to  31 ;  Charleston,  S.  C,  18  to  37;  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  20  to  24 ;  New  Orleans,  La.,  22  to  32.  These  statis- 
tics show  that  in  all  the  above-mentioned  cities  the  death  rate 
among  the  white  population  wTas  much  less  than  among  the  col- 
ored, and  in  three  of  them  only  about  one-half. 

In  ante-bellum  days,  according  to  the  report  of  old  physicians 
Who  were  familiar  with  the  facts,  pulmonary  consumption  was  an 
almost  unknown  disease  among  the  slaves.  At  the  present  time 
it  is  one  of  the  most  common  and  fatal  diseases  known  to  the  col- 
ored race. 

In  Memphis,  Tenn.,  during  1898,  the  death  rate  from  consump- 
tion among  the  colored  people  was  a  little  less  than  twice  as  great 
as  that  of  the  white  population.  In  New  Orleans  for  1897  it  was 
more  than  two  and  one-half  times  as  great ;  in  Richmond,  Va.,  dur- 
ing 1898-99  it  was  about  three  times  as  large.  In  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  for  1900  it  was  nearly  four  times  as  great,  and  nearly  the 
same  rate  has  prevailed  for  the  past  ten  years.  Charleston,  S.  C., 
reports  for  the  year  1897  forty-five  deaths  from  consumption 
among  the  whites  and  443  among  the  negroes,  the  relative  popu- 
lation being  about  29,000  of  the  former  to  36,000  of  the  latter. 

We  cannot  attribute  this  enormous  death  rate  to  any  single 
cause ;  but  among  those  contributing  to  it  may  be  mentioned  in- 
sufficient, unwholesome,  and  badly  prepared  food,  lack  of  suffi- 
cient clothing, residing  in  damp, dark, and  poorly  ventilated  apart- 
ments, frequently  an  entire  family  occupying  a  single  room,  late 
hours  in  crowded  churches,  large  rooms,  and  other  public  places 
of  resort,  otten  destitute  of  ventilation,  and  ignorance  concerning 
the  most  simple  laws  of  health. 

There  can  be  but  little  doubt  but  that  this  alarming  death  rate 
would  be  largely  diminished  if  proper  medical  attention  was  fur- 
nished. Frequently  no  physician  is  summoned,  or  when  called  it 
is  too  late  to  render  any  efficient  service. 

That  there  is  an  urgent  need  of  a  largely  increased  number  nf 
educated  Christian  negro  physicians  in  the  South  at  the  present 
time  seems  self-evident.  With  the  exception  of  a  portion  of  the 
higher  institutions  of  learning  in  the  South,  colored  pupils  are 
taught  wholly  by  teachers  of  their  own  race ;  negro  preachers  alone 
fill  their  pulpits  and  minister  to  their  spiritual  needs. 

According  to  the  census  of  1800,  the  colored  population  of  the 


MEDICAL    EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGRO.  491 

States  of  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louis- 
lana,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Ten- 
nessee, Texas,  Virginia,  and  West  Virginia  was  8,578,537,  which 
comprised  eighty-eight  per  cent  of  all  the  colored  people  in  the 
United  States.  As  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  number  of  regu- 
larly educated  negro  physicians  practicing  medicine  in  these 
States  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  was  about  six  hun- 
dred, or  l^ss  than  one  to  ten  thousand.  In  the  Northern  and 
Western  Scares  the  proportion  of  physicians  to  the  population 
is  about  one  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  or  five  hundred,  twenty 
times  as  great.  In  some  of  the  Southern  States  there  is  still  a 
greater  disproportion,  it  being  in  Louisiana  one  to  fourteen 
thousand ;  in  Alabama  one  to  twenty-three  thousand,  while  in 
Mississippi  it  is  one  to  twenty-nine  thousand. 

Nearly  all  of  these  doctors  are  located  in  the  large  cities  and 
towns,  and  are  rarely  found  in  the  country  districts. 

In  addition  to  their  work  of  ministering  to  the  sick,  their  serv- 
ices would  be  of  incalculable  value  in  giving  their  people  instruc- 
tion in  observing  the  laws  of  health,  providing  for  themselves 
comfortable  homes  and  by  precept  and  example  teaching  them 
to  lead  purer,  noble,  and  upright  Christian  lives. 

Not  only  must  negro  physicians  be  educated  for  service  among 
their  own  people  in  this  country,  but  medical  missionaries  are 
greatly  needed  for  service  in  their  fatherland. 

The  first  graduate  of  Meharry  who  volunteered  as  a  self-support- 
ing medical  missionary  was  Dr.  Georgia  Patton,  who  finished  her 
medical  course  in  1893,  and  sailed  for  Africa  a  few  months  after- 
wards. She  spent  two  years  at  Monrovia,  Liberia,  without  re- 
ceiving aid  from  any  missionary  organization.  A  portion  of  the 
day  she  devoted  to  regular  medical  work ;  the  remainder  was 
given  to  missionary  labor.  At  the  close  of  two  years,  on  account 
of  failing  health,  she  was  obliged  to  return  to  this  country;  and 
only  a  few  weeks  ago  she  passed  from  labor  to  her  reward,  es- 
teemed by  all  who  knew  her. 

Three  of  the  members  of  the  graduating  class  of  the  present 
year  propose  to  devote  their  lives  to  missionary  work  in  Africa. 
Mrs.  Blanche  Saunders,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  expects  to  start  for  Afri- 
ca next  June,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church.  Benjamin  Payne,  a  native  African,  who  has 
spent  eleven  years  in  Nashville  obtaining  a  literary  and  medical 
education,  is  to  return  to  his  native  land  in  October.  J.  A.  Ding- 


492  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

wall,  of  Jamaica,  West  Indies,  has  volunteered  for  missionary 
work  and  is  ready  to  go  as  soon  as  Bishop  Hartzell  can  provide  a 
field  of  labor  for  him. 

The  relations  which  have  existed  between  the  white  and  col- 
ored physicians  of  the  South  have  been  most  commendable.  The 
colored  physicians  have  been  treated  with  courtesy  and  respect  by 
the  white  medical  profession,  who  have  given  them  all  needed  as- 
sistance in  serious  cases  and  difficult  operations.  There  is  less 
friction  between  the  two  races  in  the  practice  of  medicine  than  in 
any  other  department  of  industrial  or  professional  activity.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  this  kindly  feeling  which  now  prevails  will,  in  the 
years  to  come,  prove  to  be  a  potent  factor  in  establishing  a  better 
understanding  between  the  two  races. 


IV.  HOME  MISSIONS. 


OUR  DOMESTIC  MISSIONS. 

REV.  D.  C.  KELLEY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

TO-DAY,  in  the  older  Conferences  at  least,  this  is  our  mired 
wheel.  We  have  charges  on  the  mountains  and  in  other  sparse- 
ly settled  regions  which  have  been  treated  as  missions  for  sixty 
years  or  more,  and  are  in  no  better  condition,  so  far  as  self-sup- 
port goes,  to-day  than  they  were  at  the  time  when,  through  the 
evolutions  of  our  circuit  system,  they  were  severed  from  self-sup- 
porting charges  and  made  independent  with  the  hope  that  they 
might  by  special  culture  be  brought  to  self-support.  Thou- 
sands of  dollars  have  gone  from  our  missionary  treasury  for  their 
support,  with  the  most  meager  and  discouraging  results.  Our 
labor  has  not  been  in  vain  ;  many  individuals  have  risen  from  these 
obscure  places  to  bear  effectively  and  triumphantly  the  standard 
of  the  cross;  here  and  there  an  elect  and  beautiful  Christian 
home  is  found — an  oasis  in  the  surrounding  desert — but  beyond 
all  question  the  masses  of  the  people  are  not  leavened. 

It  would  weary  you  beyond  the  profit  to  be  gained  were  the 
attempt  made  to  give  in  detail  the  history  of  our  operations.  All,  Hindrances 
therefore,  that  may  now  be  done  with  hoped-for  benefit  is  to 
state  broadly  our  ascertained  hindrances,  and  offer  one  or  two 
suggestions  for  your  consideration  as  to  the  best  we  may  do  for 
the  future. 

Happily  for  us,  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference  has 
thrown  light  from  a  hundred  years  of  intense  thought  and  heroic 
effort  upon  the  identical  problems  with  which  we  have  to  deal. 
With  emphasis  let  us  repeat,  the  problems  in  the  one  field  are 
identical  with  those  in  the  other;  in  other  words,  missions  abroad 
and  at  home  are  one  in  every  essential  element. 

There  are  two  discoveries  in  the  foreign  field  which  have  won 
their  way  to  almost  universal  acceptance — viz.,  that  the  physician 
and  teacher  are  equally  essential  with  the  preacher  in  missionary 
wTork  to-day ;  next,  that  self-support  is  an  essential  ingredient 
in  the  healthful  growth  of  missions  everywhere. 


tions. 


The  work  is 


Two  discov- 
eries. 


494 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


Preaching  in 
the  early 
Church. 


'Methodism  in 
America. 


It  might  seem  a  work  of  supererogation  to  argue  either  of 
these  propositions,  accepted  after  a  wide  observation  by  all  the 
leading  missionary  workers  and  Boards  of  Missions.  We  may 
however,  for  the  benefit  of  Methodist  querists,  attempt  to  an- 
swer such  questions  as,  "How  did  the  first  propagators  of  the 
gospel  find  themselves  able  to  carry  forward  successfully  their 
work  by  preaching  alone?"  or  the  question  which  comes  nearer 
home,  "How  did  early  Methodism  win  its  successes  with  few 
helps  other  than  the  preacher?" 

In  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  oral  discourse  was  to 
a  large  measure  the  only  means  for  the  dissemination  of  thought. 
Writing,  it  is  true,  was  known  ;  but,  in  the  absence  of  the  printing 
press,  narrow  in  its  influence.  The  people  of  that  day  were  ac- 
customed to  look  to  public  speaking  as  the  one  uplifting  agency. 
The  power  of  healing,  which  Jesus  had  so  freely  used  to  attract 
the  multitude  and  gain  their  good  will  after  they  had  been  brought 
to  his  presence  continued  through  the  apostolic  age  and  per- 
haps through  the  following  century ;  by  that  date  the  Church  had 
reenforced  herself  by  schools  of  wide  and  far-reaching  influence. 

Early  Methodism  in  America  came  to  a  people  gospel-hungry, 
a  great  majority  of  whom  were  stirred  with  the  energetic  move- 
ments of  a  new  century.  The  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  fur- 
nished the  early  teachers  everywhere  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
While  the  country  was  new  and  hope-inspiring  and  the  preacher 
a  comparative  novelty,  the  results  of  his  preaching  were  often 
marvelous.  Now  that  we  have  grown  older  with  a  progressive 
and  a  retrogressive  class  well  marked  both  in  city  and  country 
life,  preaching  taken  alone  does  not  meet  the  demands  of  either 
class.  Happily,  the  progressive  class  are  reaching  more  and  more 
the  stage  of  development  where  the  press  controls  thought,  and 
the  world  press  is  coming  more  and  more  to  honor  Christianity. 

This  leaves  for  our  domestic  missions  the  submerged  class  in 
the  cities  and  the  retrogressive  country  population  settled  on 
unproductive  soil,  neither  of  which  can  be  lifted  to  a  vigorous 
and  saving  Christianity  without  a  change  of  environment.  It  is 
a  subject  for  congratulation  that  at  the  opening  of  the  twentieth 
century  the  great  leaders  in  missionary  movement  and  the  fore- 
most ethnologists  have  reached  similar  conclusions — viz.,  that 
environment  is  a  mightier  agent  in  the  formation  of  character 
than  heredity;  that  to  save  a  degenerate  mass  of  people,  there 
is  little  hope  without  a  change  of  environment. 


OUR    DOMESTIC    MISSIONS. 


495 


This  agreement  thus  happily  reached  has  put  on  foot  the  move-  KEI-LEY- 
ment  upon  the  part  of  wise  philanthropists  to  remove  the  slum 
populations  of  great  cities  into  country  places,  and  supplement 
their  efforts  at  self-support  until  they  learn  to  hope  and  work. 
This  cure  it  is  not  possible  to  apply  to  impoverished  country 
populations  ;  the  mass  of  them  cannot  change  place ;  some  one  of 
developed  Christian  character  ought  to  live  where  they  are  living.  The  uestion 
In  default  of  change  of  place,  environment  must  be  changed  by  of  environ- 
another  method.  As  was  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper,  ment- 
preaching  taken  alone  has  had  little  effect  to  bring  about  any 
widespread  movement.  They  must  be  brought  into  personal 
contact  with  people  of  higher  development — not  for  an  hour 
once  a  week  or  month,  as  is  the  case  of  the  domestic  missionary, 
but  persistently  and  continuously  as  far  as  may  be.  The  best 
possible  uplift  would  be  to  plant  here  and  there  in  their  midst 
Christian  families  refined  and  cultivated.  The  world  has  long 
ago  shut  its  ears  stubbornly  to  our  declaration  that  the  residence 
of  barbarians  from  Africa  in  the  home  of  our  Southland  in  a  few 
generations  did  more  to  uplift  the  race  than  all  the  Christian  and 
philanthropic  efforts  made  in  Africa  for  two  hundred  years.  Now, 
however,  that  Booker  T.  Washington  has  declared  the  same  fact 
in  a  Northern  magazine  and  the  world  has  read  it,  we  find  a  chorus 
of  responsive  applause  even  from  our  Northern  neighbors  and 
our  British  cousins. 

Years  ago,  on  a  tour  of  inspection  in  the  Indian  Territory,  I 
became  convinced  that  a  single  white  Christian  family,  with  neat 
and  well-ordered  house  and  farm,  living  in  the  midst  of  the  In-  mass, 
dians,  not  bent  on  trade  but  on  elevating  our  aborigines,  would 
be  the  greatest  possible  boon.  It  was  bitterly  to  be  lamented 
that  some  of  our  Indian  missionaries  had  little  conception  of  the 
help  to  come  from  well-kept  houses. 

Suppose,  however,  we  can  only  in  a  very  limited  degree  accom- 
plish this  commingling  of  the  lost  with  those  who  are  in  proc- 
ess of  being  saved.  What  next  resource  have  we  at  hand?  Pre- 
cisely the  same  which  has  wrought  so  successfully  since  it  has 
been  applied  to  our  foreign  missionary  fields — viz.,  the  entrance 
into  their  midst  of  the  Christian  missionary  in  the  form  of  the 
Christian  doctor  and  the  Christian  teacher,  going  to  work  with 
as  distinct  a  sense  of  God's  call  to  that  work  as  the  preacher 
claims  for  his. 

I  will  not  stop  to  argue  this  question  of  the  call  of  laymen  to 


Leavening  the 


496 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Two  matters 
of  importance. 


Something 
more  than  Con- 
lerence  Boards 
needed. 


specific  duties.  Ruskin  was  mocked  and  laughed  to  scorn  when 
he  first  thundered  it  into  the  deaf  ears  of  the  generation  now  fad- 
ing out ;  but  when  the  question  was  asked  at  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury of  the  foremost  men  of  our  time  what  ten  writers  of  books 
of  this  century  had  most  influenced  thought,  Ruskin  was  named 
as  one  of  the  ten.  This  doctrine  of  a  universal  call  to  specific  du- 
ties was  his  most  magnificent  contribution  to  the  century. 

Much,  however,  needs  to  be  said  of  methods,  more  than  would 
be  proper  here  and  now;  these  must  be  matters  of  detail  and  in- 
telligent Christian  experiment.  To  meet  the  demand  for  right 
methods,  our  Church  must  have  some  one  charged  with  this  spe- 
cific duty.  Two  practical  and  urgent  facts  lie  at  our  very  door : 

i.  Our  domestic  missions  should  have  a  single  head,  as  do  our 
foreign.  It  will  not  do  to  waste  energy  and  funds  longer  with 
no  better  results  than  have  come  through  the  use  of  Conference 
Boards  whose  time  and  thought  are  so  occupied  with  various  and 
pressing  duties  as  not  to  be  able  to  give  the  necessary  time  to  for- 
mulate and  carry  out  the  specific  experiments  demanded.  Since 
the  work  of  the  foreign  and  domestic  missions  is  one,  why  not 
have  one  head?  We  tried  with  very  limited  success  to  carry  on 
our  foreign  work  with  Secretary  and  Board  used  only  as  collect- 
ing and  disbursing  agents.  Not  until  the  selection  of  men  for  the 
work  and  the  plans  of  operation  were  relegated  to  the  Secretaries 
and  Board  did  any  consistent  and  successful  movements  go  for- 
ward in  our  foreign  fields.  I  was  eyewitness  to  the  period  of 
transition  and  to  the  special  struggles  of  Bishop  McTyeire  to 
bring  it  about.  In  an  Annual  Conference  session  we  have  an 
overtaxed  bishop  who  at  the  close  of  the  Conference  is  gone  to 
other  imperative  duties ;  a  presiding  elder  who  is  compelled  to 
give  his  largest  and  best  thought  to  a  score  of  other  things  ;  a 
Conference  Board  of  Missions  who  have  the  problems  imperfectly 
laid  before  them  for  a  few  days  only.  What  we  must  have,  if  we 
arc  to  rationally  hope  for  success,  is  some  competent  leader 
charged  with  this  work,  whose  heart,  soul,  and  time  are  absorbed 
in  it. 

Since  writing  the  above,  the  ever-industrious  Secretaries  of  our 
Connectional  Board  of  Missions  have  placed  in  my  hands  a  num- 
ber of  papers  containing  questions  addressed  by  them  to  members 
of  our  Conference  Boards  relating  to  our  domestic  missions.  The 
questions,  seventeen  in  number,  have  been  answered  as  Southern 
gentlemen  are  accustomed  to  do,  with  punctilious  courtesy.  Ex- 


OUR    DOMESTIC    MISSIONS.  497 

cept,  however,  in  three  or  four  cases  out  of  the  forty,  the  answers  KELLEY- 
show  upon  their  face  that  while  they  are  from  the  pens  of  excellent 
and  earnest  men,  they  are  the  answers  of  men  who  have  never 
made  any  adequate  effort  to  reach  a  solution  of  the  problems  ly- 
ing at  the  foundation  of  our  domestic  missions.  One  of  these 
questions  was  :  "What  is  your  estimate  of  our  system  of  Annual 
Conference  Boards  as  compared  with  the  one-board  system  of 

the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church?''     The  overwhelming  majority 

...  r,  r    1      ,  ,-     1       i  •      T-.    •  .    Further  con- 

reply,  indicating  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 


Church  plan  ;  two,  who  claim  some  knowledge  of  it,  prefer  ours  ; 
one  only,  who  shows  a  thorough  knowledge  of  both,  gives  pref- 
erence to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  system. 

Another  question  is  :  "What  is  your  plan  for  determining  and 
continuing  pastoral  charges  as  missions?"  Two  only  assert  the 
right  of  the  Conference  Board  to  establish  and  continue  missions. 
A  very  large  proportion  of  the  replies  indicate  that  the  Conference 
Boards  rely  almost  exclusively  on  the  bishop  and  presiding  elders, 
and  work  by  no  line  of  well-thought-out  principle  on  their  part. 

''What  system  of  self-support  have  you  tried  with  success?"  was 
asked.     This  is  to-day  the  most  vital  question  in  the  thought  of 
the  leading  workers  in  the  mission  field  ;  yet,  with  the  exception 
of  six  replies,  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  earnest  effort  has  been 
made  to  give  it  intelligent  solution  by  our  Conference  Boards. 
This  does  not,  as  it  appears  to  this  writer,  indicate  failure  as  lying 
at  the  door  of  the  men  who  have  kindly  responded,  so  much  as 
the  fault  of  a  system  which  has  given  into  the  hands  of  already   Causes  of  our 
overtaxed  men  —  whose  time  must  be  given  during  the  Conference   Uilttre- 
year  to  the  work  of  their  own  charges,  and  who  in  Conference 
session  are  pressed  with  varied  interests  —  a  question  which  needs 
for  its  solution  immediate  contact  with  the  work,  consecutive 
study  of  results,  and  wide  opportunity  for  comparison  of  meth- 
ods. 

Without  in  the  least  reflecting  on  the  men  who  have  generally 
given  fragmentary  attention  to  our  domestic  missionary  opera- 
tion?, we  do  not  doubt  that  the  whole  system  demands  radical 
change.  The  history  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  original  sepa- 
ration of  missionary  work  in  our  Church  into  foreign  and  do- 
mestic, if  properly  told,  might  be  a  warning  to  all  future  Church 
legislation.  Without  entering  into  these  causes,  now  happily 
forgotten  by  all  save  a  few  scattered  survivors  of  1866.  it  is  per- 
haps best  to  say  only  that  the  reasons  for  the  division  of  the  two 


498 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Missionaries 
and  the  time 
limit. 


The  impera 


were  not  founded  on  a  well-reasoned  principle,  but  on  personal 
grounds.  Such  grounds  are  usually  fruitful  of  mistakes  in  the 
long  run. 

If  a  suggestion  to  the  next  General  Conference  is  in  order,  we 
might  dare  to  suggest  that  if  to  find  the  preacher  and  the 
preacher's  family  suited  for  this  specific  work  is  a  matter  so  dif- 
ficult, then,  when  he  has  been  found,  the  domestic  as  well  as  the 
foreign  missionary  should  be  exempt  from  the  time  limit.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  city  missionary. 

2.  We  have  left  but  little  time  for  a  discussion  of  our  second 
suggestion — self-support.  The  writer  remembers  with  a  special 
thrill  the  first  time,  after  long  study  of  the  Word  and  much  medi- 
tation, when,  making  a  missionary  address  before  an  Annual 
Conference  over  which  the  sainted  Bishop  Linus  Parker  was  pre- 
siding, he  said  :  "A  professed  Christian  to  whom  the  duty  of  giv- 
ing for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  has  been  rightly  preached, 
who  yet  persistently  refuses  to  contribute  of  his  means  for  its 
support,  is  not  a  Christian,  nor  can  he  be  saved  without  repent- 
ance and  amendment."  The  Bishop  arose  and  earnestly  added : 
tive  obiig-atkn  ''I  have  been  waiting  long  to  hear  some  one  utter  the  great  truth 
which  has  just  been  given  us.  I  wish  to  give  it  my  full  indorse- 
ment as  a  truth  from  God's  Word."  On  a  practical  application 
of  this  truth  the  missionary  world  now  agrees.  This  perfect 
agreement  is  of  recent  origin.  The  gospel  does  not  save  where 
it  is  simply  received.  Jesus's  law  is  unalterable  :  ''It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Not  only  in  our  domestic  missionary  work,  but  in  a  large  pro- 
portion of  what  we  denominate  self-supporting  charges,  we  have 
no  stewards  of  sufficient  devotion  and  business  tact  to  devise 
plans  whereby  the  salvation  of  the  whole  membership  is  being 
worked  out.  Giving  with  us  is  confined  to  the  few,  and  the 
Church  at  large  is  immensely  hindered,  if  not  overweighted,  by 
the  masses  of  Church  membership  merely  mechanically  attached 
to  the  Church  with  names  entered  upon  the  roll  and  a  more  or  less 
frequent  attendance  at  church.  They  hang  as  dead  branches, 
fruitless,  deceived,  and  fit  only  to  be  cast  into  the  fire  that  they 
may  be  burned.  Our  want  of  some  effective  method  for  saving 
these  people  who  have  voluntarily  placed  themselves  under  our 
pastoral  care  is  to  our  deep  disgrace.  ' 

Will  no  man  among  us  prove  sufficient  for  the  great  task  of 
evolving  a  plan  as  fully  suited  to  our  needs  as  did  Bunting  in 


PROBLEMS    OF   SELF-SUPPORT. 


499 


English  Methodism?  His  plan  of  a  penny  a  week  and  a  shilling 
a  quarter  saved  the  Wesleyan  Church,  and  has  made  of  her  the 
most  liberal  large  body  of  Christians  in  the  world.  Yet,  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  in  the  South,  with  our  predominant  ru- 
ral population  and  in  many  places  absence  of  weekly  service, 
the  precise  Wesleyan  system  could  be  successfully  worked. 
This,  or  some  better  devised  plan  in  its  adaptation  to  our  environ- 
ment, must  be  brought  to  a  vital  place  in  our  Church  soon,  or  we 
shall  occupy,  to  our  shame,  the  hindmost  place  in  the  Metho- 
disms  of  the  world  along  lines  of  giving  for  gospel  propagation, 
and  as  a  result  come  to  be  known  as  the  least  Christian  of  all 
who  bear  the  name  of  Methodists.  The  South  is  no  longer  poor  : 
shall  the  Methodism  of  the  South  do  least  for  our  Master? 


A  plan  needed 
to  secure  self- 
support. 


PROBLEMS    OF   SELF-SUPPORT   AND    ADMINIS- 
TRATION. 

REV.    HORACE    BISHOP,    D.D. 

MY  appearance  on  this  platform  is  doubtless  clue  not  to  any 
special  qualifications  for  such  work,  but  to  the  fact  that  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  I  have  been  connected  with  a  Board 
of  Missions  which  has  conducted  the  missionary  enterprises  of  a 
Conference  that  has  grown  from  thirty-eight  traveling  preachers 
to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  seen  an  area  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles  striped  and  checked  with 
the  trails  of  missionaries,  until  six  thousand  members  have 
been  multiplied  more  than  eleven  times.  These  results  are  clue 
not  altogether  to  the  policies  explained  in  this  paper,  but  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  these  methods  have  helped.  With  my 
limited  ability  and  opportunities  for  observation  T  cannot  hope 
to  be  either  thorough  or  profound. 

A  Board  of  Missions  ought  to  be  first  of  all  financially  solvent. 
Its  checks  should  rate  as  high  in  the  commercial  world  as  those 
of  a  national  bank.  Two  rules  rigidly  adhered  to  will  secure  this 
result :  First,  the  appropriations  should  never  exceed  the  amount 
of  the  last  year's  collections  ;  second,  no  draft  should  be  drawn 
until  there  is  money  in  the  treasury,  raised  by  the  regular  collec- 


Two  rules  for 

Conference 

Boards. 


500 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Offices  of  a 
domestic  mis- 
sion board. 


tions,  to  pay  it.  If  this  last  rule  seems  too  drastic,  there  is  the 
more  reason  for  emphasizing1  it.  Without  some  such  policy  trou- 
ble will,  sooner  or  later,  overtake  any  Board.  The  faith  faculty 
may  be  freely  exercised  in  making1  assessments  and  apportion- 
ments. But  the  Church  should  never  permit  a  draft  whose  pay- 
ment is  in  doubt  to  touch  the  marts  of  trade.  Enlarged  faith  is 
not  the  true  guide  in  making  appropriations.  You  must  have  a 
visible  and  tangible  basis  of  action.  Better  postpone  a  new  mis- 
sion, no  matter  how  urgent  the  need.  Better  consolidate  mis- 
sions already  existing,  however  painful  the  process,  than  that  a 
tentative  draft  pass  through  the  banks  of  the  world.  The  one 
policy  may  be  disheartening;  the  other  is  ruinous. 

The  functions  of  a  board  of  domestic  missions  may  be  stated 
as  follows :  First,  to  apportion  the  assessments  made  by  the  Gen- 
eral Board  for  foreign  missions,  and  the  amount  necessary  for  the 
support  of  domestic  missions,  among  the  several  presiding  elders' 
districts  ;  secondly,  to  cooperate  with  presiding  elders  and  preach- 
ers in  charge  in  raisingthese  collections  ;  thirdly,  to  plan  and  carry 
on  campaigns  of  education  in  the  Annual  Conference  ;  fourthly,  to 
investigate  the  condition  of  the  several  missions  under  their  care ; 
fifthly,  to  appropriate  equitably  to  these  missions  the  amount  on 
hand  for  the  purpose ;  sixthly,  to  inaugurate  and  establish  with 
the  consent  of  the  bishop  new  missions.    In  this  work  the  Board 
should  take  the   initiative.     The   Discipline   requires  this ;   the 
bishops  cheerfully  acquiesce.    The  consent  of  the  bishop  is  a  pru- 
dential necessity.     The  council  of  presiding  elders  is  a  sine  qua 
non.     Many  questions  occur  to  the  Board  while  listening  to  the 
requests  of  presiding  elders.    Before  making  an  appropriation  to 
a  mission  the  Board  should  know,  first,  the  number  of  people 
to  be  served  ;  secondly,  the  number  of  Methodists  ;  thirdly,  the  char- 
acter of  the  population  ;  fourthly,  their  intellectual  and  moral  sta- 
tus ;  fifthly,  whether  they  are  rural  or  urban,  landowners  or  rent- 
ers, merchants  or  day  laborers,  educated  or  not,  liberal  or  stingy. 
They  should  know,  also,  whether  their  inability  to  support  a  pas- 
tor is  real  or  imaginary,  moral  or  financial,  how  much  they  can  be 
induced  to  pay,  and  what  amount  is  necessary  to  supplement  their 
own  payments.     It  matters  not  whether  it  is  a  city  mission,  a 
black  land  mission,  a  red  hill,  a  mountain,  a  swamp,  or  a  prairie 
mission ;  these  facts  should  be  clearly  brought  before  the  Board 
in  order  to  intelligently  and  righteously  do  the  work.     To  do  all 


PROBLEMS    OF    SELF-SUPPORT.  5OI 

this,  the  meetings  at  odd  intervals  during  the  sessions  of  the  BISHOP- 
Annual  Conference  are  insufficient. 

There  should  be  a  meeting  of  the  Board  sometime  during  the 
year.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  any  Board  can  wisely  dispense 
with  this  midyear  meeting.  The  object  of  it  is  not  spectacular  yalne  of 
or  sensational  in  any  sense.  It  is  a  meeting  primarily  to  discuss  midyear  meet- 
and  determine  policies  of  administration.  Reports  from  the  field  ***• 
must  be  heard  patiently  and  attentively.  Every  missionary  should 
make  a  full  report,  answering  all  the  questions  mentioned  above. 
He  should  have  free  access  to  the  Board  for  the  discussion  of 
any  question  concerning  his  own  work.  A  consensus  of  the  field 
hands  sometimes  sheds  light  on  problems  impenetrable  to  a 
bishop  or  even  a  presiding  elder.  If  the  monotony  of  their  re- 
ports is  tiresome,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  represent  an 
investment  of  money,  blood,  and  brain  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Then  the  dry  details  will  become  spirit  and  life.  The  Board 
should  learn  from  presiding  elders  and  pastors,  if  possible,  at 
this  meeting  what  new  missions  are  probable ;  what  is  the  out- 
look for  those  now  existing;  and  devise  means  to  raise  missions 
to  self-supporting  charges  at  the  Annual  Conference.  Messen- 
gers may  be  sent  from  there  to  the  District  Conferences  to  assist 
•.he  presiding  elders  in  the  district  anniversary  and  in  stimulating 
the  mission  to  self-support.  In  case  of  a  chronic  mission,  it  is 
sometimes  wise  to  send  a  messenger  to  confer  with  the  stewards, 
and  come  to  some  agreement  with  them  for  a  gradual  with- 
drawal of  the  appropriation,  and  a  corresponding  increase  of  their 
payments  for  the  support  of  the  ministry.  A  member  of  the 
Board  can  do  much  to  supplement  the  presiding  elders'  efforts. 
When  he  preaches  a  money  sermon  or  lectures  the  stewards,  it 
may  be  counted  "shop  talk"  for  personal  purposes,  while  on  these 
missions  the  best  of  literature  is  not  read.  But  when  a  repre-  visitations, 
sentative  of  the  Board  attends  the  Quarterly  Conference  he,  with 
the  help  of  the  presiding  elder  and  pastor,  can  do  something.  I 
said  this  meeting  was  not  for  sensational  purposes.  Although  I 
have  never  seen  it  tried,  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  concurrent  or 
joint  meetings  with  Epworth  League  and  \Yomen's  Boards. 
Representatives  of  these  can  attend  the  midyear  meetings  with 
profit  to  the  cause  ;  but  the  meeting  is  for  the  Board  to  study  its 
own  problems,  and  should  not  be  entangled  with  other  matters. 
Incidentally  and  at  popular  hours  a  programme  may  be  ren- 
dered, addresses  made,  or  sermons  preached.  But  these  are  un- 


502 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


tul  annual 
meeting. 


important.    Let  the  idea  be  stressed  that  the  Board  meets  to  study 
its  work  by  mastering  all  its  details. 

For  the  present  I  turn  from  this  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Board.  If  I  understand  the  true  policy,  this  meeting  should  be 
called  at  least  a  day  before  the  session  of  the  Annual  Conference. 
The  way  to  ^e  Pres^mg  elders  should  meet  with  them  at  their  first  session, 
nave  a  success-  and  inform  them  as  to  the  status  of  the  collections,  make  sugges- 
tions as  to  new  missions,  and  requests  for  appropriations.  How 
can  they  do  this  until  they  know  who  will  be  appointed  to  the 
missions  ?  The  answer  to  this  is  the  core  to  the  problem  of  self- 
support.  The  appropriations  should  not  be  to  the  man,  but  to 
the  mission.  I  invoke  the  rhetoric  of  repetition.  The  appropria- 
tion should  not  be  to  the  preacher,  but  to  help  the  mission  sup- 
port a  preacher.  If  this  seems  to  be  a  distinction  without  a  dif- 
ference, be  kind  enough  to  put  the  distinction  in  italics ;  the  ap- 
propriation is  not  to  take  care  of  John  Smith  or  even  John  Wesley. 
It  is  to  place  the  mission  in  a  situation  to  support  the  most  effi- 
cient man  for  that  place.  The  presiding  elder  knows  how  much 
the  mission  can  pay.  When  he  adds  the  appropriations  to  that 
amount  the  sum  places  the  mission  precisely  where  the  other 
charges  are  as  to  salary,  and  the  bishop  can  make  his  appoint- 
ments accordingly.  This  brings  the  mission  in  vital  contact  with 
the  Board. 

After  all,  the  real  question  is  the  preacher.  If  we  have  any 
place  in  our  Church  for  an  inefficient  man,  it  is  not  on  a  mission. 
Presiding  elders  are  occasionally  tempted  to  nominate  such  to 
serve  on  missions.  The  Board  should  have  the  nerve  to  prevent 
this.  If  a  Conference  will  not  locate  its  "gum  logs,"  a  Board  of 
missions  should  decline  to  handle  them.  Even  the  episcopal  pre- 
rogative, which  we  all  revere,  is  not  adequate  to  the  task  of  know- 
ingly making  such  an  imprudent  appointment.  To  send  a  man 
with  the  prestige  of  forty  annual  failures  to  a  mission  as  old  as 
himself  is  a  twofold  error. 

In  administration  the  preacher  and  the  Board  are  a  unit;  in 
the  support  of  the  preacher  the  Board  and  the  mission  are  one. 

Up  to  this  moment  at  least  I  have  not  been  speculating.  I 
speak  what  I  do  know,  and  testify  to  that  I  have  seen.  It  has 
been  my  privilege  to  see  the  working  of  these  principles  and  plans 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  Board  that  adopted  them  then 
has  never  been  embarrassed  by  debt,  and  for  the  past  twenty 
years  has  been  able  to  make  whatever  appropriations  are  abso- 


Incompetent 
preachers  and 
' '  chronic  mis- 
sions." 


PROBLEMS    OF   SELF-SUPPORT.  503 

lutely  necessary  for  the  progress  of  the  work.     All  drafts  are  B1SIIOP- 
drawn  when  due,  and  all  are  promptly  paid.     I  have  seen  more 
than  one  hundred  missions  raised  to  self-supporting  charges.    The 
best  contributors  to  the  collections  now  were  but  a  few  years  ago 
under  the  care  of  our  Board. 

One  question  confronts  us  all,  the  chronic  mission.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  we  adopt  the  method  pursued  in  foreign  fields, 
using  the  schoolhouse  and  the  hospital  as  a  part  of  our  plans. 
The  value  of  these  auxiliaries  is  very  great.  But  the  question 

Schools  and 

invariably  arises  :  "Where  is  the  money?"    In  many  of  our  cities  hospitals. 

a  hospital  would  greatly  help  our  evangelism.  The  discussion  of 
that  I  will  leave  to  wiser  men.  As  to  the  school,  it  is  just  as  well 
to  admit  that  we  are  having  a  hard  time  supporting  the  institu- 
tions we  now  have.  But  this  fact  should  be  noted,  the  system  of 
public  schools  is  universal  among  us.  More  and  more  these  are 
being  placed  in  the  hands  of  moral  and  religious  teachers.  They 
are  doing  much  to  overcome  the  evils  of  ignorance.  They  offer 
to  us  an  opportunity  which  can  be  used  with  advantage.  A 
preacher  who  declines  an  invitation  to  visit  the  schools  in  the 
bounds  of  his  charge  lets  slip  one  of  life's  grand  opportunities. 
With  rare  exceptions  the  teacher  is  delighted  at  well-timed  visits 
from  the  preacher.  By  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  teacher 
and  pupil :  by  recognizing  the  schoolroom  as  an  adjunct  to  the 
sanctuary ;  by  an  appreciation  of  the  teacher  as  a  fellow-worker 
for  the  intellectual  and  moral  improvement  of  the  race,  the 
preacher  can  gain  a  subtle  power  that  will  charge  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  schoolroom  with  Christian  influences.  At  the  mid- 
year meeting  the  Board  should  learn  whether  or  not  its  represent- 
atives are  in  touch  with  the  teachers  and  pupils  in  their  several 
missions.  While  the  present  state  of  affairs  continues,  we  can- 
not have  our  own  schools.  Let  us  utilize  those  we  have  as  far 
as  State  laws  and  the  courtesies  of  the  teachers  will  permit.  In 
many  places  we  have  to  preach  in  schoolhouses.  Opportunities 
for  week-day  preaching-  in  them  occur  frequently.  Parenthet- 
ically, I  deny  that  week-day  preaching  is  impracticable.  A  mis- 
sionary can  have  a  much  larger  congregation  in  the  week  than 
our  Lord  had  at  Jacob's  well,  or  when  ho  preached  on  the  new 
birth. 

A  series  of  questions  has  been  submitted  to  me  by  our  Secre- 
taries, which  show  that  they  are  studying  these  problems  closely. 
I  have  socn  the  answers  of  a  number  of  men  to  these  same  ques- 


504 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Would  con- 

nectlonalism 

help? 


Self -support 
and  its  fruits. 


tions,  and  am  glad  to  note  that,  as  far  as  they  have  adopted  poli- 
cies similar  to  those  mentioned,  other  Boards  have  been  similarly 
successful.  One  of  those  questions,  however,  has  made  me  a 
little  uneasy.  It  suggests  the  abandonment  of  our  system  of  Do- 
mestic Boards,  and  the  adoption  of  the  so-called  one  Board  sys- 
tem. An  irenical  paper  has  been  handed  me,  written  by  a  man 
of  an  acute  intellect  and  a  lover  of  missions.  I  have  long  regarded 
him  as  one  of  our  most  trustworthy  leaders.  In  that  paper  he 
advocates  a  return  to  policies  abandoned  in  1866. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  Shanghai  to  Nashville.  It  will  be  still  farther 
from  the  Panhandle  of  Texas,  when  the  cry  travels  the  Shanghai 
route.  It  is  said  that  prior  to  the  present  arrangement  there  was 
some  discord  among  the  officials,  and  that  the  present  policy  is 
the  result.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  a  personal  contention  be- 
tween Paul  and  Barnabas  was  so  sharp  that  they  parted  asunder 
the  one  from  the  other.  But  see  how  God  overruled  the  wrath 
of  men.  The  consequence  of  that  contention  was  the  midnight 
scene  in  the  jail  at  Philippi,  and  the  evangelization  of  Europe. 
It  may  also  have  saved  Mark  to  the  Church,  and  secured  for  us 
the  second  gospel.  It  is  not  unknown  to  some  that  even  in 
modern  times  personal  differences  have  fallen  out  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  gospel. 

Paul  states  his  rule  for  foreign  missions  very  briefly  but  cogent- 
ly. He  trained  one  Church  to  support  him  while  he  established 
another.  Notwithstanding  he  declined  the  support  of  the  Church 
in  Corinth  while  he  was  with  them,  yet  in  writing  to  them  he 
expresses  the  hope  that  "when  your  faith  is  increased,  we  shall  be 
enlarged  by  you  according  to  our  rule  abundantly,  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  the  regions  beyond  you."  The  edification  of  the  home 
Church  is  the  basis  of  the  foreign  work,  and  we  should  always 
look  to  that  end.  To  discount  in  any  way  the  home  missions  is 
to  paralyze  the  other.  It  is  claimed  that  they  are  one  in  spirit, 
and  therefore  should  be  under  one  Board.  The  question  would 
then  indeed  be:  ''Which  is  the  One?"  To  show  what  this  in- 
volves, let  us  look  once  more  at  our  Annual  Conference  Board. 
It  is  composed  of  men  chosen  quadrennially  by  the  Conference. 
They  ought  to  be  representative  men,  who  can  command  the 
confidence  of  the  Conference,  the  Church,  and  the  people.  They 
are  in  touch  with  the  missions  of  their  Conference.  They  are  in 
association  with  the  presiding  elders  and  pastors  of  their  missions. 
To  substitute  for  this  Board  a  remote  organization  would  be  to 


PROBLEMS    OF    SELF-SUPPORT.  5°5 

devitalize  the  work.  The  General  Board  finds  in  these  men  its  BISIIOP- 
best  assistants.  By  visits  and  communications,  at  the  midyear 
meetings  as  well  as  at  the  Annual  Conference,  they  familiarize 
them  with  their  plans.  Through  the  Domestic  Boards  the  Church 
gains  audience  with  the  Annual  Conference,  and  their  recom- 
mendations find  a  ready  support.  These  Boards  are  auxiliary  to 
the  General  Board.  They  should  not  be  discarded  nor  weakened, 
but  encouraged  to  greater  things.  It  is  claimed  that  they  have  not 
time  for  their  work  at  the  Annual  Conference.  The  fact  is  that 
they  have  time  for  little  else.  They  should  be  specialists.  We 
have  men  enough  to  do  all  our  work.  Scores  of  men  have  very 
little  to  do  at  the  annual  gathering.  Our  blessed  mother  Church 
is  so  eager  to  employ  her  latent  talent  that  she  sometimes  ap- 
points a  committee  on  one  of  the  ten  commandments.  They 
bring  in  a  report  and  a  resolution  to  keep  the  Sabbath  day  holy. 
The  resolution,  of  course,  is  unanimously  adopted,  but  any  one  ists0nonr 
has  the  privilege  of  a  negative  vote.  Put  some  of  these  men  to  boards, 
work  on  those  all-engrossing  problems,  and  let  the  members  of 
your  Board  confine  themselves  to  missionary  matters.  Nothing 
is  more  important,  not  even  the  Tuesday  morning  session  of  the 
cabinet  or  the  interview  with  the  bishop  after  the  Conference 
adjourns.  Any  Annual  Conference  in  our  connection  can  fur- 
nish men  for  this  work,  and  still  attend  to  all  its  other  business. 
It  is  said  we  have  domestic  missions  sixty  years  old.  We  have 
foreign  missions  almost  as  old  and  very  small  to  their  age.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  history  of  these  sixty-year-old  mis- 
sions antedates  our  present  policy  by  twenty-four  years.  They 
were  weaklings  then  ;  they  are  the  same  now.  Unless  conditions 
change,  they  will  be  weaklings  sixty  years  hence.  I  am  unable  to 
believe  that  the  General  Board,  embarrassed  as  it  has  been  by 
debt  and  pressed  for  help  by  Macedonian  cries,  could  have  clone 
any  better  for  them  than  has  been  done  under  our  present  policy. 
Our  success  in  the  Western  work  is  not  so  conspicuous  as  to 
authorize  us  to  throw  all  of  our  missions  under  ene  Hoard. 

'1  he  proposition  means  either  ilie  abandonment  of  many  of 
our  domestic  missions  or  the  multiplication  of  salaried  officers 
with  less  efficient  service.  Our  Secretaries  are  overworked.  At 
every  General  Conference  there  is  clamor  for  an  increase  of  the 
number.  But  in  all  our  Annual  Conferences  there  are  men  fully 
competem  to  care  for  the  domestic  missions,  and  to  them  we 
must  look  to  solve  these  ;irobleni* 


506 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Are  competent 
men  unwilling 
to  do  mission 
work? 


No,  what  we  need  is  not  a  retrogressive  revolution,  but  a 
new  perspective.  We  need  enterprising,  wide-awake,  aggressive 
Boards.  We  need  men  chosen  not  to  do  the  bidding  of  bishops 
and  presiding  elders — the  best  men  in  the  world  for  the  work  as- 
signed them — but  toprovide  the  means  for  the  support  of  the  home 
and  the  foreign  fields,  make  equitable  appropriations  for  the  do- 
mestic missions,  work  with  presiding  elders,  pastors,  and  stewards 
in  bringing  them  to  self-support;  to  see  to  it  that  the  Church  is 
properly  informed  on  all  questions  of  vital  import  to  the  cause 
they  represent ;  to  see  to  it  that  each  mission  has  support  sufficient 
to  command  the  talent  that  it  needs  ;  and  to  correlate  all  the  other 
enterprises  of  the  Church  about  her  chief  work,  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world. 

It  is  claimed  that  our  best  talent  is  often  unwilling  to  do  mis- 
sionary work.  It  is  difficult  to  receive  this  statement  without 
modification.  If  the  degree  of  A.M.  unfits  a  man  for  the  service 
of  the  Lord  where  he  is  most  needed,  his  culture  is  behind  that 
of  Him  who  strove  to  preach  the  gospel  where  the  name  of  Christ 
had  never  been  heard.  If  our  best  young  men  must  have  the 
single  station,  the  quiet  study,  and  the  quid  pro  qiw  salary,  our 
universities  are  educating  them  wrong. 

But  I  cannot  believe  it.  Now  and  then  a  preacher  assigned  to 
hard  duty  may  say,  "To  what  purpose  is  this  waste  of  precious 
ointment  which  has  been  so  many  years  in  storing  at  the  college?" 
but  he  who  is  a  man  called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel  and  con- 
secrated to  his  work  will  catch  the  Pauline  spirit,  and,  by  be- 
coming all  things  to  all  men,  save  some.  Yes,  the  question  after 
all  here  as  everywhere  else  is  the  man,  the  preacher.  "The  rank 
is  but  the  guinea  stamp ;  the  man's  the  gold  for  a'  that."  Life- 
long habit  inclines  me  to  exhort,  but  I  spare  you  that  ordeal. 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE    SOUTH.  5°7 

GROWTH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  CITY  POPULATION 
IN  THE  SOUTH. 

G.    W.    DYER,    M.A. 

BY  cities  here  are  meant  towns  and  cities  of  3,000  population 
and  over ;  by  South,  all  the  Southern  States,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Maryland  and  Missouri.  These  two  States  are 
excluded  because  their  industrial  development  is  not  peculiarly 
Southern.  In  1870  there  were  in  the  South  63  towns  and  cities ; 
in  1900,  263.  In  1870  the  total  population  of  Southern  towns 
and  cities  was  913,527;  in  1900,  3,265,072.  In  1870  eight  out  of 
every  hundred  lived  in  towns  and  cities ;  in  1900,  more  than 
fourteen.  The  increase  in  population  in  these  States  in  this  pe- 
riod was  96  per  cent ;  the  increase  of  urban  population  was  257 
per  cent. 

What  have  been  the  causes  of  this  remarkable  growth  of  urban 
population  in  the  South  ?  First,  the  rapid  growth  of  towns  and 
cities  in  the  last  half  century  is  not  peculiar  to  the  South  or  the  Reason8 
United  States.  Throughout  the  civilized  world  urban  popula-  rapid 
tion  is  rapidly  gaining  on  rural  population.  European  cities  are 
growing  about  as  fast  as  American  cities.  In  the  United  States 
in  1800  there  were  less  than  four  out  of  every  hundred  living  in 
towrns  of  S,ooo  and  more  ;  in  1900  there  were  about  thirty-four  out 
of  every  hundred  in  towns  of  8,000  and  more;  and  if  we  count 
those  living  in  towns  of  3,000  as  urban,  nearly  onerhalf  of  the  pop- 
ulation in  Uie  United  States  to-day  is  urban.  There  are  many 
causes  for  this  change.  I  cannot  discuss  them,  but  will  mention 
a  few : 

1.  People  are  gregarious — they  don't  like  isolation  if  they  can 
live  with  the  crowd. 

2.  Invention  in  agricultural  machinery  and  the  application  of 
new   fertilizers   to   the    soil,    the   introduction    of   new   methods 
in  general  made  possible  by  the  discoveries  of  science,  and  the 
increased  transportation  facilities   have   decreased   the   demand 
for  agricultural  laborers.     The  machine  has  displaced  the  man. 

3.  While  the  demand  for  laborers  in  the  country  has  decreased, 
the  demand  for  workingmen  in  the  city  has  increased. 

4.  The  city  gives  opportunities  lor  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth, 
while  accumulation  in  the  country  is  slow. 

5.  The  supposed  superior  advantages  of  city  life  in  general  over 


508  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

DYER-  country  life  are  causing  thousands  every  year  of  all  classes  to 

leave  the  country  and  make  their  abode  in  the  city. 

The  rapid  growth  of  cities  in  the  South  did  not  begin  until  after 
why  it  was      the  war,  whereas  in  the  North  the  movement  began  as  early  as 
delayed  in  the    jg^o.     There  are  several  reasons  why  this  movement  was  slow  in 
the  South  : 

1.  The  South  was  eminently  adapted  to  agriculture. 

2.  Southern  people  had  never  done  anything  else. 

3.  They  were  fond  of  rural  life,  had  thoroughly  adapted  them- 
selves to  it,  and  were  loth  to  change. 

4.  While  the  leading  men  of  the  South  had  the  negroes  on 
their  hands  and  had  to  take  care  of  them,  they  were  forced  to 
remain  in  the  country  and  give  their  attention  to  agriculture  in 
order  to  make  a  living.     The  negroes  were  better  adapted  to 
agriculture  than  to  manufacture. 

5.  Another  important  reason  was  that  the  young  men  who  now 
go  to  the  city  were  attracted  to  the  rich  soil  and  the  gold  and 
silver  mines  of  the  West  before  the  war. 

After  the  civil  war  conditions  were  changed.  The  negroes 
were  now  free,  and  had  to  look  out  for  themselves.  Farming  on 
a  large  scale  with  free  negroes  was  unprofitable.  The  West  had 
been  settled  up,  and  the  gold  fever  had  subsided,  and  hence  em- 
igration to  that  section  stopped.  Besides  this,  the  opening  of  the 
rich  agricultural  lands  of  the  West  and  Northwest  made  agricul- 
ture in  the  South  less  profitable.  The  Southern  people  found 
themselves  face  to  face  with  new  conditions.  They  could  see 
no  future  in  agriculture  exclusively,  but  with  prophet's  eyes, 
through  clouds  as  black  then  as  midnight,  they  saw  a  great  future 
for  the  South  in  manufacturing  and  commerce.  For  here  they 
had  illimitable  material  resources,  and  the  record  made  bv  the 
rank  and  file  on  the  side  of  the  Confederacy  in  the  civil  war  taught 
them  that  thev  bad  also  the  men  capable  of  developing  these  re- 
sources, capable  of  anything  within  the  range  of  the  possible  to 
human  endeavor. 

In  1860  the  true  valuation  of  real  and  personal  property  in  the 
six  New  England  States,  with  New  York,  Xew  Jersey,  and  i'enn- 

New  England     sv]vania.  in  round  numbers,  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  thirteen 

compared  with      - 

the  s»uth.         Southern  States — $5,500,000,000.      In   18/0  the  total  value  of 

property  in  the  South  had  fallen  to  less  than  one-fifth  of  that  of 
these  Nonhern  States,  these  States  having  over  SiS. 000,000,000, 
while  the  South  had  only  $3,500,000.000.  In  1880  these  States 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE    SOUTH.  509 

fell  back  to  $17,500,000,000,  while  the  South  went  up  from  $3,-  B  ER- 
500,000,000  to  $6,500,000,000.  In  1890  these  States  went  from 
$17,500,000,000  to  $21,500,000,000,  while  the  South  increased  to 
$9,750,000,000.  In  1870  the  valuation  of  property  in  Massachu- 
setts alone  was  about  two-thirds  that  of  the  whole  Southern 
States,  while  in  1890  the  valuation  of  property  in  Texas  alone  was 
almost  equal  to  that  of  Massachusetts.  In  1870  the  South  had 
only  151  cotton  mills;  in  1900  we  had  663.  In  1870  we  had  6,000 
looms;  in  1900  150,000.  In  1870  327,000  spindles  ;  in  1900  6,267,- 
ooo.  In  1870  the  South  manufactured  only  about  eight  per  cent 
of  the  cotton  manufactured  in  the  United  States  ;  in  1900  we  man- 
ufactured nearly  one-half.  In  1900  the  South  manufactured  near- 
ly three  times  as  much  cotton  as  was  manufactured  in  Southern 
mills  in  1890.  From  1890  to  1900  the  amount  of  cotton  con- 
sumed by  Southern  mills  increased  192  per  cent,  while  the  amount 
consumed  by  Northern  mills  in  the  same  time  increased  only  15 
per  cent.  The  increase  in  manufacturing-  docs  not  mean  a  de- 
crease in  agriculture,  for  in  1894  the  South  produced  0,500,000 

bales  of  cotton,  while  the  largest  production  of  cotton  in  anv  one  ^ 

M-.-'.ufactur- 

year  before  the  war  was  only  4,352,317  bales.  As  vast  as  was  ing 
this  product-en  of  cotton,  it  was  exceeded  by  the  grain  crop  in  the 
South  in  1893,  Texas  leading  in  both  wheat  and  corn.  This  in- 
crease in  industry  is  not  confined  to  cotton  and  grain.  The  growth 
has  been  general.  A  few  years  ago  the  grist  mills  at  Richmond, 
Ya.,  were  making  the  only  brand  of  flour  pure  to  cross  the  equa- 
tor without  spoiling.  The  production  of  pig  iron  increased  from 
397,301  tons  in  ]88o  to  1,567,000  tons  in  1893,  an  increase  of  319 
per  cent.  In  1880  her  coal  crop  amounted  to  6.048,000  tons,  in 
1893  to  28,000,000  tons,  an  increase  of  362  per  cent  in  thirteen 
years. 

AYith  such  material  resource?  and  with  a  people  who  have  al- 
ready demonstrated  to  the  world  their  eminent  capability  of 
coping  with  and  mastering  nature's  forces,  the  South  must  be- 
come a  great  manufacturing  and  commercial  center.  \\  ith  the 
added  advantages  which  the  opening  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  will 
give,  the  growth  of  the  South  within  the  next  fe\v  decades  must 
surely  be  very  rapid.  V\'hetlK-r  we  ii'-e  it  or  not,  whether  we 
think  it  for  the  best  or  the  worst,  the  problems  of  ihe  S  rath  in  the 
future  will  be  the  problems  of  the  city.  The  industrial,  political, 
social,  educational,  and  religious  problems  of  our  civilization  must 
be  worked  out  in  the  citv.  and  not  in  the  countrv,  as  formerlv. 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Heg-roee. 


Foreigners. 


The  Southern 
people. 


Our  institutions  must  be  adapted  to  city  life  or  die.  Our  leaders 
in  every  sphere  of  life  in  the  future  must  either  be  from  the  city 
or  in  close  and  vital  touch  with  city  life.' 

The  negroes  constitute  about  the  same  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation in  Southern  towns  and  cities  as  in  the  States  in  which  the 
towns  and  cities  are  located  respectively.  However,  there  are 
many  exceptions  to  this  rule.  In  cotton  factory  towns  the  per 
cent  is  likely  to  be  smaller;  also  in  cities  and  towns  having  a 
large  number  of  foreigners.  Negroes  and  foreigners  will  not 
mix. 

The  foreign-born  element  in  Southern  cities  is  a  small  factor, 
and  instead  of  growing  larger,  as  is  commonly  thought,  it  is  be- 
coming less.  Exclude  Texas  and  Florida,  and  in  the  other  re- 
maining Southern  States  the  actual  number  of  foreign-born  pop- 
ulation was  no  larger  in  1890  than  in  1870. 

In  many  of  the  cities  in  the  twenty  years  from  1870  to  1890 
there  has  been  a  large  decrease  in  the  actual  number  of  the  for- 
eign-born population,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  cities 
have  grown  rapidly.  In  New  Orleans  there  was  a  decrease  of 
about  8,000  in  the  foreign-born  population  from  1870  to  1890. 
There  was  a  similar  decrease  in  the  actual  number  during  the 
same  perio:!  in  many  Southern  States. 

Our  Southern  cities,  then,  are  made  up  almost  exclusively  of 
Southern  people.  These  people,  constituting  the  urban  popula- 
tion of  the  South  for  the  most  part,  were  born  and  reared  in  the 
rural  sections  of  the  South.  They  represent  no  one  class  from 
the  country;  they  are  made  up  of  all  classes.  The  educated  and 
the  uneducated,  the  cultured  and  uncultured,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  those  who  have  seen  better  times  and  those  who  have  not, 
the  industrious  and  the  lazy,  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  white 
and  the  black,  the  good  and  the  bad,  have  all  come  to  town. 

To  understand  the  character  of  the  city  population  of  the  South, 
we  must  first  understand  the  Southern  people  as  Southerners. 

1.  The  Southern  people  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  Anglo-Saxon 
origin.     Study  the  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  you  will  find 
that  this  means  much.     The  Anglo-Saxon   has  always  been  a 
leader,  never  a  follower. 

2.  The  Southern  people  are  American.     Not  like  a  very  large 
part  of  the  population  of  the  North  and  Northwest,  who  were 
born  under  other  flags  or  whose  parents  came  from  other  lands, 
and  who  consequently  are  bound  to  other  countries  and  to  other 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE    SOUTH.  511 

ideas  of  civilization  by  ties  that  cannot  be  easily  broken,  the  DYER- 
Southerner  knows  no  country  but  America,  and  does  not  care 
to  know  any  other ;  he  knows  no  flag  but  that  which  waves  over 
American  soil ;  there  are  no  ties  that  bind  him  to  any  other  clime. 

3.  The  Southern  white  man  believes  in  democracy. 

"  He  is  a  Democrat  bred 

And  a  Democrat  born; 
And  when  he  is  dead 
A  Democrat  ^one." 

Democracy  was  born  in  the  South  in  this  country,  and  it  has 
always  found  there  a  genial  sphere.  From  the  earliest  days  of  this 
government  the  Southern  whites,  rich  and  poor,  cultured  and 
uncultured,  almost  to  a  man,  have  stood  for  the  principles  of  civ- 
ilization as  expounded  by  Thomas  Jefferson. 

4.  The  Southern  people  are  industrious,  and  yet  they  have  the 
reputation  everywhere,  North  and  South,  of  being  intensely  lazy. 

I  cannot  discuss  this  point  as  I  should  like.  I  will  simply  point  Are  they  lazy? 
to  the  almost  superhuman  energy  displayed  by  them  in  opening 
up  to  civilization  the  West  and  Southwest  before  the  war,  and  to 
the  almost  miraculous  development  of  the  South  since  the  war, 
as  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  charge.  The  Southern  people  have 
always  honored  honest  toil.  There  have  always  been  people  in 
the  South,  before  the  war  and  since,  who  have  refused  to  do  man- 
ual labor,  even  when  they  were  very  poor.  But  you  find  such 
people  everywhere.  There  were  a  few  people  in  the  South — and 
the  number  was  very  small— who  really  looked  down  on  honest 
toil.  But  they  never  constituted  the  representative  class,  and  had 
but  little  influence  in  the  South. 

5.  The  idea  prevalent  in  some  sections  that  the  great  body  of 
the  poor  white  people  of  at  least  some  of  the  Southern  States 
are  the  direct  descendants  of  criminals  and  paupers  sent  over  from 
England  in  colonial  days  is  without  historical  data  to  support  it. 
This  gross  misrepresentation  will  disappear  as  the  facts  of  his- 
tory are  brought  to  light.     Mr.  Bruce,  in  his  splendid  work,  "The 
Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  and 
John  Fiske,  in  "Old  Virginia  and   Her  Neighbors, "  have  con- 
clusively shown  that  very  few  criminals  were  sent  to  America  by 
England. 

6.  After  what  has  gone  before,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  state 
that  the  Southern  people  are  conservative.     They  inherited  this 


512 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Conservative 
and  Christian. 


Changed  by 
new  condi- 
tions. 


trait  from  their  English  ancestry,  and  they  have  never  given  it  up, 
we  are  glad  to  say.  They  are  conservative  in  politics,  in  religion, 
and,  in  fact,  in  every  relation  of  life.  But  it  is  not  that  conserva- 
tism which  is  opposed  to  progress,  as  the  facts  of  history  will 
show. 

7.  The  Southern  people  believe  in  Christianity,  and  they  believe 
in  the  Christian  Church.  They  are  Protestant  and  thoroughly 
orthodox.  The  masses  believe  in  a  real  conversion  and  a  real 
heaven  and  a  real  hell.  Universalism  and  Unitarianism,  ethical 
culture,  and  Christian  science  get  but  little  sympathy  and  almost 
no  following  in  the  South.  According  to  the  census  of  1890, 
nearly  fifty  per  cent  of  the  voters  of  the  South  were  members 
of  Protestant  Churches,  whereas  only  about  twenty-two  per  cent 
of  the  voters  of  Northern  States  were  members  of  Protestant 
Churches,  and  only  about  one  per  cent  of  the  voters  of  the  West ; 
seventy  per  cent  of  the  voters  of  South  Carolina  were  members 
of  Protestant  Churches,  as  against  eighteen  per  cent  of  the 
voters  in  the  State  of  Maine. 

To  understand  the  character  of  the  urban  population  of  the 
Southern  towns  and  cities  we  must  next  determine  to  what 
extent  these  people  have  been  influenced,  changed  by  their  new 
environment.  Every  man  is  influenced  by  his  environment.  The 
lives  of  the  great  majority  are  largely  shaped  and  molded  by  it. 
The  changes  which  have  taken  place  may  best  be  brought  out  by 
contrasting  the  life  of  these  people  in  the  country  with  their  life 
in  the  city. 

Taking  conditions  as  they  are,  and  not  as  some  think  they 
are,  or  think  they  ought  to  be  or  might  be,  life  in  the  country 
was  democratic,  whereas  life  in  the  city  to-day  is  undemocratic. 
This,  to  my  mind,  characterizes  the  great  change,  and  this  con- 
stitutes the  problem  of  the  city.  The  problem  of  the  city  is 
the  problem  of  democracy. 

All  life  may  be  brought  under  live  heads ;  these  have  been 
called  the  rVe  great  streams  of  life:  The  industrial,  the  political, 
the  religious,  the  educational,  and  the  social.  Corresponding  to 
these  are  the  five  great  institutions  of  civilization  :  The  organ- 
ization of  industry,  the  State,  the  Church,  the  school,  and  the 
home.  .Follow  these  streams  of  life,  and  study  the  institutions 
corresponding  to  them,  and  1  think  you  will  iincl  that  Southern 
rural  life  was  democratic,  while  Southern  citv  life  is  growing 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE    SOUTH.  5Z3 

more  and  more  undemocratic.    I  cannot  attempt  any  exhaustive  DYER- 
discussion  of  this  thesis  here ;  I  can  only  hope  to  be  suggestive. 

There  were  no  masses  and  classes  in  the  country.  The  or- 
ganization of  industry  was  essentially  democratic.  There  could 
be  no  fixed  classes  of  employers  and  employees.  Every  man,  Rural  Ufe- 
if  he  so  desired,  could  become  his  own  master  in  industry.  This 
gave  an  independence  to  every  individual  which  is  unknown  and 
impossible  in  modern  city  life.  The  fact  that  an  employee  could 
at  any  time  withdraw  and  change  his  relation,  and  begin  business 
for  himself — and  every  one  expected  to  do  this  sooner  or  later — 
made  the  employer  very  considerate  of  the  interests  and  life  of 
the  employee,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  life  he  was  treated  not  as 
an  inferior,  but  as  an  equal. 

Under  such  conditions,  of  course,  government  was  by  the  peo- 
ple, of  the  people,  and  for  the  people.  The  candidates  for  office 
were  all  known  to  the  people,  for  they  were  selected  by  the  people.  PolltlC9 
The  poor  man  knew  the  issues,  and  he  appreciated  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  ballot.  He  could  not  be  bulldozed  or  intimidated 
by  men  of  wealth,  nor  driven  as  a  dumb  brute  by  a  political  boss. 
He  asked  for  no  political  favors,  nor  did  he  expect  any.  He  was, 
indeed,  a  sovereign,  and  his  vote  was  his  own. 

Educational  advantages  were  not  so  good  in  the  country  as 
they  are  in  the  city.  It  was  impossible  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case.  But  such  schools  as  there  were,  were  democratic.  Espe- 
cially was  this  true  of  primary  education.  Every  educational  Education, 
movement  was  a  movement  by  all  the  people  in  the  community, 
and  its  advantages  were  shared  by  all.  School  trustees  and  school 
directors  were  often  inefficient,  but  they  were  honest  and  they 
were  the  choice  of  the  people.  There  was  not  one  school  for  the 
children  of  the  well  to  do  and  another  for  the  children  of  the 
poor  as  we  find  in  the  city. 

A  Church  made  up  of  any  one  class  or  controlled  by  a  class  in 
the  country  was  impossible.  No  community  could  support  more 
than  one  Church  of  any  one  denomination,  and  into  this  were 

Religion. 

gathered  all  whose  denominational  preferences  agreed,  of  what- 
ever station  in  life,  and  all  were  given  recognition.  There  is  a  wide 
difference  in  the  make-up  of  an  official  board  in  the  country  and 
in  the  city.  The  country  Church  was  essentially  a  great  school — 
perhaps  the  greatest  school  of  true  democracy — a  place  where 
men  and  women  from  all  spheres  of  life  gathered  and  united  and 
21 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

governed  and  communed  on  the  basis  of  social  equality,  on  the 
basis  of  common  brotherhood. 

The  home  and  social  intercourse  in  general  were  democratic. 
There  was  no  exclusiveness  about  the  country  home.  Visitors, 
neighbors,  and  strangers  were  always  welcome ;  they  were  ex- 
pected, and  they  were  not  expected  in  vain.  They  went  in  and 
out  constantly,  especially  in,  and  when  they  got  in  they  stayed 
a  long  time.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  modern  city,  fashionable 
call.  When  the  men  visited,  they  took  a  day  off;  when  the  women 
visited,  they  took  the  children  and  the  dog  and  the  knitting,  and 
had  their  talk  out. 

In  the  country  every  man  had  a  home,  and  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  people  owned  their  houses.  The  poor  man 
living  on  his  own  land  in  his  own  home  built,  perhaps,  by  his 
own  hands,  surrounded  by  his  family,  contented  and  happy, 
was  in  striking  contrast  to  the  poor  man  of  our  cities  to-day. 
The  home  of  the  poor  man  was  as  real  and  sacred  and  hal- 
lowed and  attractive  to  him  as  even  the  homes  of  those  in 
better  circumstances  to  their  owners.  We  have  all  seen  the 
typical  Southern  country  home  of  the  poor :  the  little  log  house 
on  the  side  of  the  hill.  The  walls  were  kept  whitewashed,  and 
the  floors  scoured  ;  the  yard  was  adorned  with  the  green  grass 
and  flowers  and  whitewashed  stones.  On  the  outside  of  the  house, 
near  the  door,  sitting  on  a  shelf  was  the  water  pail,  by  which 
hung  a  real  gourd  that  added  fifty  per  cent  to  the  refreshing 
qualities  of  any  drinking  water.  The  yard  was  full  of  chickens 
and  ducks.  Not  far  distant  was  the  stable  where  was  kept  the 
family  horse,  which  was  loved  almost  as  a  member  of  the  family, 
and  on  the  hillside  was  the  indispensable  cow  grazing  in  the  tall 
grass,  the  young  calf  hard  by  but  with  a  tantalizing  fence 
between  them.  Near  the  house,  in  a  grove  of  trees,  was  the 
cool,  sparkling  spring  whither  typhoid  germs  were  afraid  to  go, 
and  near  this  the  spring-house,  where  milk  and  butter  and  other 
things  were  kept  cool.  Apple  trees  and  peach  trees  and  cherry 
trees  were  scattered  here  and  there  over  the  little  farm,  and  veg- 
etables were  raised  in  abundance.  In  the  summer  season  the 
family  lived  in  the  yard  for  the  most  part  under  the  big  shade 
trees,  where  often  the  meals  were  served.  On  long  winter  nights 
they  gathered  around  the  big,  cheerful  log  fire.  The  wife  sat  in 
one  corner  with  her  knitting,  and  the  husband  in  the  other  with 
the  almanac,  and  the  children  between.  I  think  sometimes  it 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE    SOUTH. 


515 


must  have  been  a  home  like  this  that  John  Howard  Payne  had  in 
mind  when,  far  from  his  native  land,  in  a  strange  country,  home- 
less and  friendless,  he  sat  down  and  penned  those  matchless  lines  : 

Be  it  ever  so  humble, 
There's  no  place  like  home. 

As  every  phase  of  life  in  the  country  was  democratic,  every 
phase  of  life  in  the  city  is  undemocratic.  On  account  of  the 
great  concentration  of  w-ealth  in  the  city,  industrial  inde- 
pendence is  no  longer  possible.  The  employee  under  modern 
conditions  is  almost  hopelessly  consigned  to  his  sphere,  for  un- 
less a  man  has  a  very  large  amount  of  money  or  possesses  great 
genius  he  can  have  but  little  hope  of  ever  becoming  his  own  mas- 
ter in  industry.  There  are  now  two  separate  and  distinct  classes, 
an  employer  class  and  an  employee  class.  Industry  is  growing 
less  democratic. 

The  same  is  true  of  political  life  in  the  city.  The  concentration 
of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  with  the  tremendous  power 
over  the  lives  and  destiny  of  the  majority  which  goes  with  it,  to- 
gether with  the  rise  of  the  political  boss,  has  in  large  measure 
taken  government  out  of  the  hands  of  the  many  and  placed  it  in 
the  hands  of  the  few. 

The  educational  interests  in  our  large  cities  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  politicians.  Thousands  of  the  children  of  the  poor  are 
kept  in  factories  and  workshops  the  year  through,  and  are  thus 
deprived  of  an  education.  When  the  children  of  the  poor  attend 
school  in  the  city  they  rarely  come  in  contact  with  the  children 
f  the  more  cultured  classes,  as  was  the  case  in  the  country:  for 
ir,  the  city  there  is  a  school  in  the  poor  district  for  the  poor,  and 
a  school  in  the  more  attractive  portion  of  the  city  for  the  cultured. 

The  Church,  the  great  school  of  democracy  in  the  country,  in 
the  city  is  becoming  a  most  undemocratic  institution,  for  we  arc 
building  elegant  churches  for  the  rich  and  chapels  for  the  poor. 

In  the  city  there  are  distinct  social  classes.  The  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  cultured  and  the  uncultured,  the  educated  and  unedu- 
cated never  meet.  The  poor  crowd  together  in  that  unattractive 
and  unhealthy  portion  of  the  city  set  apart  for  them,  and  here 
they  live,  cut  off  from  social  contact  with  the  rest  of  the  citv. 
Having  to  live  as  they  do,  home  life  is  impossible  with  a  very 
large  number. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  people  of  our  cities  are  drift- 
ing farther  and  farther  apart  everv  rear.  Democracv  wa.- 


Different  in 
the  city. 


politics. 


Education. 


Church. 


Home. 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Meaning  of 
the  slums. 


Evils  of  social 
separation . 


an  eminent  success  in  rural  America ;  it  has  been  a  stu- 
pendous failure  in  our  cities.  The  American  cities  are  the  worst- 
governed  civilized  cities  in  the  world  to-day.  Since  the  whole 
problem  of  democracy  is  to  be  worked  out  in  cities,  and  since  a 
failure  of  democracy  in  the  city  means  a  failure  of  democracy 
in  America,  it  is  not  difficult  to  realize  the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion. 

This  very  sad  condition  of  the  poor  in  our  cities  is  not  an  evi- 
dence that  people  are  growing  more  hard-hearted  and  un- 
sympathetic and  selfish ;  it  does  not  mean,  as  the  radicals  claim, 
that  the  Churches  have  lowered  their  standards,  and  that  the  min- 
istry has  surrendered  to  the  rich.  The  men  and  women  in  the 
better  circumstances  of  life  were  never  more  altruistic  than  to- 
day, never  more  eager  to  help  their  unfortunate  fellow-men,  and 
the  Churches  and  ministry  were  never  more  active  in  trying  to 
establish  righteousness  in  the  world  than  they  are  to-day.  This 
condition  of  things  has  been  planned  by  no  class ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  sadly  deplored  by  all.  It  is  simply  the  effect  of  the 
natural  social  forces  at  work  in  every  city,  which  have  always 
led  to  such  results,  and  which  always  will  lead  to  such  results 
unless  counteracted  by  other  forces  which  we  thus  far,  through 
negligence  and  ignorance  and  thoughtlessness,  have  failed  to  put 
in  operation.  The  great  trouble  with  us  is  we  have  been  trying 
to  meet  new  conditions  with  old  methods ;  we  have  been  holding 
on  to  that  extreme  individualism  which  came  down  to  us  from 
the  period  of  the  German  reformation,  and  which  though  well 
suited  to  rural  conditions  of  life  when  there  were  no  such  prob- 
lems as  we  have  to-day,  is  in  no  way  adapted  to  modern  city  life, 
until  we  have  allowed  problems  to  be  heaped  upon  us  the  solu- 
tion of  which  is  going  to  test  the  utmost  strength  of  our  institu- 
tions. 

Almost  all  of  our  trouble,  social  and  industrial,  has  come  from 
the  unfortunate  separation  of  the  classes.  In  the  country  the 
conditions  of  life  were  such  as  to  make  this  separation  impossi- 
ble ;  in  the  city  the  conditions  of  life  are  such  as  to  make  it  al- 
most inevitable.  If  we  could  bring  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  cul- 
tured and  the  uncultured,  the  employer  and  the  employee  to 
know  each  other  again  as  they  used  to  know  each  other  in  the 
country,  I  make  bold  to  say  antagonism  and  strife  would  disap- 
pear, and  we  should  again  be  the  fellow-citizens  of  a  real  democ- 
racy ;  for  people  who  have  so  much  in  common,  whose  ideals 


CITY    POPULATION    IN    THE   SOUTH. 

and  sympathies  have  been  so  nearly  the  same,  in  whose  veins  DYE*- 
flows  the  same  Anglo-Saxon  blood,  and  whose  lives  have  been 
so  powerfully  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  genuine  Christianity, 
cannot  think  evil  of  or  deal  harshly  with  or  refuse  to  help  each 
other  when  brought  into  vital  touch  as  friends  and  neighbors, 
since  with  such  association  the  spirit  of  our  common  humanity 
asserts  itself,  and  here  arises,  necessarily,  that  unanimity  of  feel- 
ing which  no  social  or  industrial  force  can  impede. 

If  the  Church  had  realized  the  potency  of  this  great  truth  when 
we  first  began  to  change  from  rural  to  urban  life,  and  had  thrown 
herself  into  the  first  narrow  breach  between  the  classes,  putting 
forth  her  best  strength  and  wisdom  to  hold  together  the  masses 
and  the  classes,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  cultured  and  the  un-  „ 

The  Church's 
cultured,  the  employer  and  the  employee,  as  well  as  the  chil-    duty. 

dren,  on  the  same  Church  roll,  in  the  same  pew,  in  the  same  Sun- 
day school  and  prayer  meeting  and  class  meeting,  around  the 
same  communion  table,  we  should  know  nothing,  or  at  least  but 
little,  of  that  strife  and  bitter  feeling  which  now  exists,  and 
which,  we  fear,  is  growing  more  intense  as  our  cities  become 
larger.  But  this  the  Churches  failed  to  do ;  thus  far  we  have 
drifted  with  the  tide.  Instead  of  boldly  asserting  our  trans- 
scendent  prerogative,  given  us  from  above,  to  change  and  direct 
and  control  the  natural  forces  of  the  social  organism,  making 
them  to  obey  us  and  work  together  in  the  interest  of  a  common 
brotherhood,  we  have  in  a  large  measure  allowed  them  to  ruth- 
lessly dominate,  control,  and  drive  us  as  the  autumn  leaves  are 
driven  before  the  storm. 

The  poor,  seeing  the  best  preachers,  the  best  churches,  the 
most  influential  members  all  leaving  them  to  follow  culture  and 
wealth  and  refinement,  have  grown  very  suspicious  of  the  gen- 
uineness of  their  Christianitv  and  the  sincerity  of  their  motives, 

11  i       11        1-  •  t  i       /-M  Why  minions 

and  hence  are  gradually  alienating  themselves  from  the  Churches.  may  f^. 
They  refuse  to  attend  the  missions  which  the  rich  have  built  for 
them  partly  because  the  accommodations  are  poor,  the  music 
bad,  the  services  uninteresting,  the  preaching  dry  and  dull,  and 
partly,  as  they  will  tell  you,  because  they  are  too  proud  to  be 
side-tracked  in  this  way,  feeling  that  magnificent  churches,  fine 
music,  and  eloquent  preachers  for  the  rich,  with  little  chapels  and 
missions  and  assurances  for  the  poor,  are  a  travesty  on  the  Chris- 
tianity taught  to  them  by  their  mothers,  the  simple  Christianity 
they  found  in  the  country.  The  poor  white  people  of  the  South, 


5l8  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

DYER.  the  honest,  working  people,  are  extremely  proud,  and  for  this  I 

am  glad.  Their  real  sentiment  is  well  expressed  by  Burns.  What 
though  they  are  homely?  There  is  hope  for  such  people,  who 
hold  up  their  heads  and  guard  jealously  their  rights,  though  they 
are  in  many  cases  too  sensitive.  They  will  never  go  to  your 
Churches  unless  you  will  give  to  them  that  recognition  and  con- 
sideration in  every  phase  of  Church  life  which  is  due  to  the  very 
best  people  in  your  community.  The  Church  that  reaches  and 
holds  these  people  must  be  absolutely  democratic.  It  must  be 
a  Church  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  not. 
as  is  too  often  the  case,  of  the  few,  by  the  few,  and  for  the  few. 

On  account  of  the  seeming  absence  in  the  city  Church  of  this 
spirit  of  democracy,  which  was  so  prominent  in  the  country 
Church,  the  poor  are  leaving  the  Churches,  and  are  gradually  iden- 
tifying themselves  with  other  organizations,  such  as  labor  union?, 
benevolent  orders,  brotherhoods,  etc.,  because  in  them  they  get 
real  recognition,  and  from  them  help  and  sympathy  in  times  of 

Feeling  of  the  trouble.  They  will  tell  you,  as  a  prominent  labor  leader  told  me 
sometime  ago,  that  the  preachers  and  churches  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  rich  ;  and  as  another  said,  "Those  who  pray  for  us  in  the 
churches  on  Sunday  prey  on  us  all  the  week ;"  and  as  another 
told  one  of  my  students,  the  preachers  don't  talk  about  the 
things  that  are  interesting  to  us.  I  don't  justify  these  state- 
ments, or  in  any  sense  indorse  them.  There  is  in  them  an  ele- 
ment of  truth,  however,  as  all  will  agree.  I  give  them  that  we 
may  get  their  standpoint ;  for  this  we  must  have  before  we  are  in 
a  position  to  reach  them  or  in  way  help  them. 


NEED    OF   TRAINED    WORKERS.  519 

THE    NEED    OF   TRAINED    WORKERS   TO    SUPPLE- 
MENT OUR  REGULAR  CHURCH   AGENCIES 
IN  CITY  MISSIONS. 

REV.    W.    H.    LAPRADE,    D.D. 

IT  is  assumed  properly  that  our  regular  Church  agencies  have 
accomplished  something  in  city  mission  work.  In  many  instances 
this  something  has  been  much.  Some  impression  has  been  made, 
some  points  of  importance  in  outlying  districts  have  been  seized 
and  held;  but  results  have  in  the  main  fallen  far  short  not  only 
of  the  desire  of  the  Church,  but  of  any  due  proportion  to  the 
labor  and  money  expended.  This  failure  has  been  at  two  points  : 
the  nature  of  the  results  and  the  permanency  of  them.  Impres- 
sions made  have  been  largely  superficial,  and  consequently  tran- 
sient, passing  away  with  the  occasion.  The  trend  of  life  is  not 
turned,  nor  its  aspirations  heightened.  Or  if  the  old  views  and 
habits  are  done  away  for  a  time,  if  the  evil  spirit  is  really  "gone 
out/'  it  is  for  a  while  only.  Back  he  comes  with  sevenfold  in- 
crease, and  the  history  of  unanticipated  failure  is  added  to  the 
burden  of  an  already  wretched  and  well-nigh  hopeless  life.  This 
is  true  in  a  measure  of  all  evangelical  work,  and  of  all  attempts 
to  raise  men  above  their  old  low-graded  existence ;  but  it  is  sadly 
and  far  too  frequently  true  of  city  mission  work  as  heretofore 
conducted  in  many  of  our  large  centers  of  population. 

There  is  reason  for  this  partial  failure.  The  problems  which 
confront  the  Church  in  large  and  growing  cities  are  numerous, 
are  intricate,  and  press  for  solution.  Many  elements  are  involved. 
Mission  work  in  cities  is  related  closely  to  the  saloon  problem  probiemi  of 
with  all  its  myriad  social  and  political  complications  ;  to  the  ques-  citjr 
tion  of  sanitation ;  to  tenement  life ;  to  the  intricate  and  difficult 
problems  growing  out  of  the  relations  of  labor  to  capital ;  and 
to  the  increasing  influx  of  foreign  elements  of  population.  The 
successful  worker  must  grasp,  intelligently  and  to  a  good  degree, 
all  these  questions  in  their  varied  relations  to  the  ethical  and 
religious  interest  of  his  field.  The  forces  that  antagonize  the  gos- 
pel are  not,  as  in  rural  districts,  detached  and  occasional;  they 
are  well  organized,  constant,  and  alert.  Greed  of  gold  and  love  of 
power  combine  to  keep  them  active  and  strong.  Nor  is  their 
opposition  simply  incidental  and  secondary  ;  it  is  of  set  purpose 
with  reference  to  many  of  its  elements,  and  self-protective  with 


520 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Specialists  re- 
quired. 


reference  to  all.  Their  very  existence  is  put  in  jeopardy  by  the 
effort  of  the  Church  to  reach  the  non-Christian  masses.  A  large 
measure  of  intelligence  or  a  high  moral  tone  would  prove  destruc- 
tive to  them.  Therefore  they  must  be  reckoned  with,  as  well  as 
those  forces  that  are  constant  quantities  in  depraved  human 
nature  and  Satanic  influences,  in  any  effort  to  teach  and  establish 
the  truth. 

It  follows  that  exact  and  thorough  comprehension  of  these 
antagonizing  forces,  and  of  the  conditions  of  character  and  sur- 
roundings produced  by  them,  is  absolutely  necessary  if  we  would 
accomplish  anything  worthy  and  permanent.  Zeal  must  be  "ac- 
cording to  knowledge."  Neither  the  average  volunteer,  who  de- 
votes to  this  field  a  few  hours  weekly,  snatched  from  an  already 
busy  and  crowded  life ;  nor  some  man  or  woman  chosen  at  ran- 
dom from  those  unprepared  or  ill-prepared  ones  who  can  devote 
all  their  time  to  the  work,  can  grasp  the  situation  sufficiently  well 
to  master  it.  So  intricate  a  problem — evidenced  in  so  many  and 
so  varied  forms — demands  study  by  specialists.  To  comprehend 
and  change  such  conditions  is  the  task  of  a  thoroughly  equipped 
and  thoroughly  drilled  man  or  woman.  Special  preparation,  spe- 
cial adaptation,  and  constant  concentration  and  application  of 
thought  and  energy  are  demanded  here.  The  untrained  worker 
may  thoroughly  understand  the  truth  he  would  teach,  but  he 
may  not  thoroughly  understand  its  relation  to  the  life  of  his 
pupil,  or,  if  he  does,  he  may  be  utterly  unable  to  bring  the  truth 
into  contact  with  the  life.  It  is  not  enough  that  truth  shall  not 
be  misstated ;  it  must  not  be  misapplied.  It  must  come  to  a  man 
on  the  plane  of  his  life  and  in  terms  which  he  can  comprehend. 
The  untrained  worker  may  know  the  "mystery  of  the  iniquity"  of 
the  human  heart  and  of  the  great  adversary,  but  he  does  not 
know  the  "mystery  of  the  iniquity"  of  the  hunger  and  dirt  and 
disease  and  necessitated  shamelessness  of  crowded  city  tene- 
ments nor  of  the  hard  hopelessness  of  oft-defeated  spirits  who 
have  vainly  striven  without  competent  guides,  and,  as  it  seemed 
to  them,  without  sympathy,  human  or  divine,  to  escape  from  their 
congenital  doom.  He  is  assured  of  the  divine  vitality  of  the 
seed  he  would  sow,  but  is  often  largely  ignorant  of  the  state  of 
the  soil  or  climate. 

He  who  shall  succeed  must  not  only  have  gone  with  the  Master 
through  vineyard  or  cornfield  burdened  with  purple  or  golden 
harvest,  and  yielding  as  well  garners  of  precious  truth ;  he  must 


NEED    OF   TRAINED    WORKERS.  521 

also,  and  chiefly,  have  sat  with  him  at  Matthew's  board,  and  in   LAPRAD«- 
the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee,  and  learned  from  him  how  to 
win  and  to  hold  the  outcast.     He  must  be  trained  to  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  people  to  be  reached. 

I  say  trained  to  acquaintance.     It  must  be  close,  exact,  inten- 
tional, purposeful.    Some  facts  may  be  assumed,  such  as  the  de-  Wbat  lg  train. 
pravity  of  the  human  heart ;  the  sense,  however  latent,  of  respon-  ing? 
sibility  to  God ;  the  hunger  of  heart  for  real  heart-food,  often 
scarcely  recognized.    The  fullness  and  sufficiency  of  provision  for 
salvation  in  Christ,  and  the  ever-active  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  always  to  be  counted  on. 

But  races  and  localities  have  their  types,  and  individuals  their 
peculiarities,  and  different  types  respond  to  different  methods  of 
approach  and  modes  of  instruction.  Often  energy  and  money 
are  wasted  and  effort  dissipated  because  of  lack  of  well-tested 
methods. 

To  sum  up  what  has  so  far  been  suggested,  our  regular  Church 
agencies  should  be  supplemented  by  workers  who  have  trained 
habits  of  observation,  trained  power  of  comprehending  relations, 
trained  skill  in  discovering  motives  of  action,  trained  ability  in 
matching  remedy  to  need  and  method  to  man.  Such  a  worker,  if 
fired  by  enthusiasm  for  Christ  and  ''constrained  by  the  love  of 
Christ,"  will  do  his  work  for  him  as  thoroughly  and  as  exactly 
as  the  astute  ward  politician  now  does  it  for  himself  or  his  party. 

Doubtless  a  measure  of  inspiration  will  more  than  compensate 
for  lack  of  training.  John  the  Baptist  was  wise  enough  to  reach 
the  Roman  soldier  through  his  admitted  brutality  and  the  pub- 
lican through  his  conscious  and  unprincipled  greed — but  not  all 
men  arc  inspired. 

The  non-churchgoing  population  of  our  large  cities  are  not  dull 
and  stupid  on  the  one  hand,  nor  plastic  and  tractable  on  the 

other.    Constant  struggle  for  subsistence  has  made  them  quick-   character  of 

,  ,  .,  .  ,  ....    population, 

witted  and  alert,  while  a  long-sustained  attitude  ot  suspicion,  if 

not  of  antagonism,  toward  the  Church  has  made  them  difficult 
to  approach  and  still  more  difficult  to  influence.  Within  certain 
limits,  determined  by  their  experience,  they  are  close  and  accu- 
rate students  of  men,  and  are  quick  to  discern  ability  or  incom- 
petency.  This  fact  emphasizes  the  need  of  master  workmen. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  a  successful  worker  must  place  him- 
self in  sympathetic  touch  with  the  people  whom  he  would  influ- 
ence for  good.  Xot  only  must  there  be  sympathy,  but  the  c.r- 


522 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  Salvation 
Army. 


Tie  defense- 
less convert. 


pressioii  of  it  must  be  on  the  man's  own  plane — intelligible  to  him 
and  acceptable  to  him.  Sympathy  is  born  of  love,  and  cannot  be 
simulated,  but  the  expression  of  it  is  a  matter  for  careful  training 
and  wise  forethought. 

The  ''slum  workers"  of  the  Salvation  Army  furnish  a  case  in 
point.  Going  amongst  the  poor,  degraded,  half-fed,  vicious  oc- 
cupants of  crowded  districts,  they  do  not  irritate  them  by  reproof 
or  untimely  exhortation,  but  with  disciplined  eye  they  find  at 
once  the  way  of  successful  approach.  Perhaps  it  is  to  cook  a 
meal  for  a  sick  mother,  furnishing  the  "wherewith ;"  perhaps  to 
nurse  a  sick  child  while  the  tired  mother  snatches  a  little  needed 
rest ;  perhaps  to  find  work  for  some  poor  fellow  "out  of  a  job." 
Whatever  it  may  be,  the  trained  eye  sees  its  necessity,  the  trained 
powers  accomplish  it.  In  the  school  of  experience  they  have 
learned  both  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  To  this  sort  of  work 
their  whole  time  is  given.  They  are  experts,  and  they  are  men 
and  women  of  one  work.  Their  success  has  been  marvelous. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  on  what  may  be  termed  the  elee- 
mosynary feature  of  city  mission  work  because  it  is  a  neces- 
sary feature  of  it.  and  because  it  is  usually,  in  some  form,  the 
introductory  feature  of  it.  Men  must  be  approached  on  the  plane 
of  their  conscious  needs.  Through  the  ministrations  of  kindness 
the  sense  of  higher  needs  is  stirred,  the  spirit  becomes  accessible", 
confidence  is  secured,  and  the  man  may  be  won  for  Christ.  But 
when  the  problem  of  reaching  the  "submerged  tenth"  has  been 
-olved  successfully,  and  the  man,  individual  or  in  numbers,  has 
been  won  for  Christ,  the  work  has  just  begun.  The  man  may 
have  changed  ;  his  environments  remain  unchanged.  He  has  been, 
so  to  speak,  captured,  sworn  to  allegiance,  and  then  turned  loose 
in  an  enemy's  country.  He  must  be  enlisted,  he  must  be  gar- 
nsonecl.  He  must  have  that  restless,  shrewd,  acquisitive  nature 
of  his,  hitherto  trained  to  achievements  in  vice,  thrown  into  as 
ceaseless  activity  in  virtue  and  for  the  right.  An  enthusiasm  for 
Christ  must  be  stirred  and  sustained.  In  power  of  resistance 
this  man,  who  never  said  "Xo"  to  his  impulses  or  his  passions, 
is  as  a  child ;  in  power  of  accomplishment,  if  properly  encouraged 
and  directed,  he  may  be  as  a  giant.  He  is  by  habit  of  life  un- 
easy, suspicious,  easily  mastered  by  sin.  Let  him  alone  and  he 
will,  alas  !  how  frequently,  become  restless,  then  skeptical  of  the 
genuineness  of  his  religious  experience,  then  turn  again,  for  re- 
lief, to  his  old  associates  and  his  old  life. 


NEED    OF    TRAINED    WORKERS.  523 

This  man  needs  protection  as  well  as  wisely  directed  activity. 
He  will  not  be  let  alone  as  he  tries  to  build  around  himself  a 
defense  from  his  enemies.  He  will  be  approached  with  guile  and 
subtlety.  He  will  be  assaulted.  Siege  will  be  laid  against  him. 
Sanballat  and  Gashmu  will  not  be  wanting  with  their  jeerings 
and  mockings  and  lies.  What  will  the  poor  untried  man  do  if 
no  Ezra  is  near,  versed  in  the  law  of  his  God ;  no  Xehemiah,  with 
watchful  solicitude  and  wise  leadership  and  inspiring  exhortation 
and  example?  How  shall  he  renew  his  wasting  courage?  how 
answer  his  doubting  heart  and  his  crafty  enemies?  The  Arabians 
and  Ammonites  and  Ashdodites  of  the  saloon  and  the  street  will 
be  upon  him,  his  feeble  defenses  will  be  overthrown,  and  he  will 
be  led  away  captive. 

Ability  to  organize  successfully  is  of  scarcely  less  importance 
in  large  operations  than  ability  to  reach  men.  This  includes  two 
things  :  power  of  initiative  and  skill  in  combining  separate  ele- 
ments of  influence.  While  these  are  largelv  gifts,  thev  are  gifts 

•    .fe  • 

discovered  often,  and  developed  always  by  wise  training.     When   faculty 
the  work  to  be  accomplished  is.  as  in  the  case  before  us.  difti-   ed  *Ii0' 
cult  and  peculiar,  power  of  initiative,  if  untrained,  is  sometimes 
exercised  disastrously.    Movements  are  enterprisecl  and  furthered 
which  prove  to  be  without  profit  and  even  wasteful,  and  which 
hinder  wiser  ones;  or,  if  wise  themselves,  fail  because  «>f  incom- 
plete organization.     Here  the  prepared  man.  the  student  »f  meth- 
ods and  means,  has  an  immense  advantage,     lie  initiates  a  mov, 
ment  with  no  more  care,  perhaps,  but  with  much  more  wisd-xi:  • 
he  combines  his  forces  no  less  readily  and  with  surer  forecast  o; 
results.      His   organization,   therefore,   abides   and    i-    successful. 
while  that  of  his  untrained  fellow-worker  is  apt  to 
if  complete,  or  an  obstruction  if  permanent. 

In  our  mission  work  all  other  agencies  are  in  ten 
the  way  for  preaching  or  teaching  "the  truth  as  it   is  n   Oiri- 
Jesus."     Here,  surely,  more  than  a.t  any  other  point,  the 
must  be  trained  to  liis  task.     Xot  only  is  this  true  <  -   TM,-t'ne 

to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  and  the  administration   clUiae. 
of  the  sacraments,  but  equally  so  of  him  who  would 
Sunday  school,  in  the  prayer  meeting,  in  the  famil 
the  bedside  of  the  sick,  or  at  the  crowded  corner  of  the  .-tret 
Here  and  there,  perhaps,  one  may 

aptness;  here  and  there  one  whose  immtive  recognition 
tions  and  genius  for  adjusting  truth  to  need  stand 


524 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


The  question 
of  schtols. 


of  training  in  the  science  of  applied  Christianity ;  but  we  are  not 
now  considering  such  a  rare  worker.  He  is  "a  law  unto  himself" 
in  such  matters,  and  stands  apart  as  an  almost  divinely  gifted 
man.  Happy  the  pastor  who  has  such  a  helper,  and  rare  as 

happy. 

Even  in  our  best-organized  Sunday  schools  a  thoroughly  com- 
petent teacher  of  the  Bible  is  seldom  found.  To  teach  at  all  is 
usually  to  add  an  additional  task  to  an  already  overcrowded  life. 
It  is  an  avocation,  not  a  vocation.  He  is  chosen  often,  not  because 
his  fitness  is  obvious,  but  because  the  need  is  great.  The  work 
is  done  as  well  as  he  is  capable  of  doing  it  with  no  special  training, 
and  it  is  not  without  results.  Supplemented  as  it  is  by  many  and 
varied  influences  for  good,  it  is  really  valuable  work.  But  the 
teacher  at  the  mission  school  usually  has  placed  in  his  hands  for 
instructing  and  molding  far  other  material.  It  is  raw.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  work.  It  is  not  brought  under  other  helpful  conditions. 
To  accomplish  much,  he  must  be  a  master  workman,  a  skilled 
laborer,  an  artist  indeed.  He  must  have  special  and  tested  fit- 
ness. He  must  have  been  trained  for  the  work. 

Our  Church  is  to  be  congratulated  that  we  have  at  least  one 
school  where  such  training — in  eleemosynary  work,  in  methods  of 
organization,  in  house-to-house  visitation,  in  the  art  of  observing 
and  mastering  conditions,  and  in  Bible  study  and  teaching — is 
given  to  young  women.  The  Scarritt  Bible  and  Training  School 
has  already  proved  itself  to  be  a  blessing  beyond  calculation,  and 
its  influence  is  daily  growing.  We  need  a  companion  school, 
where  consecrated  young  men  may  prepare  not  for  the  pulpit  but 
for  just  such  work  as  is  indicated  by  this  paper. 


THE  WOMAN'S  HOME  MISSION   SOCIETY. 

MISS  BELLE  H.  BENNETT. 

THE  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  known  first  as  the  Woman's  Department  of  Church  Ex- 
tension, and  four  years  later  as  the  Parsonage  and  Home  Mission 
Society,  became  an  organized  force  of  the  Church  under  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1886. 

Miss  Lucinda  P..  Helm,  of  Elizabeth! own,  Ky.,  was  the  instru- 


m 


THE  WOMAN'S  HOME  MISSION  SOCIETY.  525 

ment  used  of  God  to  call  the  organization  into  existence ;  and  for  MISS  »»** 
twelve  years,  until  the  close  of  her  life,  she  labored  with  unflagging 
zeal  to  guide  and  develop  the  growing  work  and  to  arouse  the 
Church  to  its  importance.  Although  the  institution  was  born  of 
the  necessities  and  opportunities  of  the  times,  the  work  for  the 
first  decade  was  largely  local  and  educative,  and  the  period  was 
peculiarly  a  formative  one. 

There  was  no  home  mission  literature.     Fields  must  be  stud- 
ied;  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  helpless  and  the  neglected, 
the  destitute  and  the  outcast,  brought  before  the  Church  ;  a  litera- 
ture made,  and  a  favorable,  intelligent  public  sentiment  created. 
The  local  work  of  the  Church  had  been  done  in  the  past  by 
local  "aid  societies,"  composed  for  the  most  part  of  the  best  wom- 
en in  each  individual  charge.     This  must  be  continued,  and  by  the 
same  women ;  but  the  inspiration  of  an  enlarged  outlook  must  be 
given ;  broader  and  more  sympathetic  plans  formed ;  a  conncc-  origin  and 
tional  policy  adopted;  and,  above  all,  a  systematic  Bible  study 
inaugurated,  that  the  individual  life  must  be  purified  and  the  mis- 
sionary spirit  cultivated  and   developed.     From  the  beginning 
one  urgent  need  of  general  interest  was  manifest — namely,  homes 
for  the  preachers  and  their  families,  and  the  purpose  of  the  society 
was  declared  to  be :  "To  enlist  and  organize  Christian  women 
and    children    in    securing    homes    for    itinerant    preachers ;    in 
providing  religious  instruction  for  the  neglected  and  destitute; 
and  in  otherwise  aiding  the  cause  of  Christ."     It  was  easy  to  see 
that  the  pioneer  preacher  on  the  frontier  battling  against  adverse 
and  constantly  changing  forces,  with  limited  finances  and  heavy 
expenses,  needed  a  home  secured  to  him  by  the  Church  winch  he 
served  ;  that  the  poorly  equipped  man,  or  the  young  man.  serving 
a  hard  circuit  with  meager  salary  and  dependent  family,  should 
have  a  home,  a  place  for  study  and  prayer,  or  his  work  would  be 
done  with  a  divided  heart, and  mental  and  spiritual  dwarfing  would 
be  the  result.     The  old  man,  who  has  fought  the  Church's  hard 
battle  and  whose  waning  physical  strength  makes  lighter  work- 
imperative,  should  find  the  Church  home  read}-.     '1  he  presiding 
elder,  to  give  his  best  efforts  to  the  district  which  he  serves,  should 
know  that  his  wife  and  children  are  comfortably  housed. 

This  evident  need  became  a  strong  connecting  link  betw 
the  scattered  auxiliaries,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  six  years  .  f  tl 
organization  the  General  Secretarv  of  the  Hoard  of  Church.  Ex- 


526 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MISS  BENNETT,  tension  announced  that  more  parsonages  had  been  built  than  in 
the  first  fifty  years  of  American  Methodism.  Eight  years  later, 
First  fruits.  the  annual  report  of  the  Society  showed  that  during  the  thirteen 
years  of  its  history  one  thousand  and  thirty-four  parsonages,  or 
more  than  one-half  of  the  whole  number  built  by  the  entire 
Church,  had  been  aided  by  the  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society  : 
and  the  information  gathered  and  disseminated  concerning  the 
preachers'  homes,  the  hardships  and  sufferings  endured  by  their 
wives  and  children,  had  produced  a  marked  effect  in  the  impetus 
thus  given  to  better  parsonage-building  throughout  the  bounds 
of  the  Church. 

''As  long  as  the  itinerancy  exists  and  the  Church  work  contin- 
ues to  grow,"  parsonage-building  will  be  a  work  of  vital  impor- 
tance. There  are  now  one  thousand  and  ninety-two  men  in  the 
Church  serving  charges  which  pay  salaries  ranging  from  one 
hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars.  There  are  one  hundred  and 
eighty-two  men  on  circuits  which  pay  salaries  of  less  than  one 
hundred  dollars.  Very  many  of  these  men  have  families,  and 
many  of  these  charges  have  no  parsonages.  These  must  be  pro- 
vided. 

A  systematic  supply  department  was  a  spontaneous  response 
to  the  knowledge  of  facts  given  concerning  these  families. 
Through  the  wisely  directed  efforts  of  a  superintendent,  assisted 

department. 

by  the  presiding  elders,  the  name  of  every  man  in  each  Confer- 
ence needing  help  can  be  secured.  A  blank  asking  for  specific 
information  concerning  the  family,  the  number  of  children,  their 
sex  and  age,  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the  household  and  so  forth, 
is  sent  to  the  mother.  When  this  is  returned  the  Superintendent 
sends  to  some  willing  auxiliary,  and  under  the  supervision  of 
one  or  two  wise-hearted  women,  the  box  is  carefully  and  quieth 
made  up  and  sent  out.  The  recorded  value  of  supplies  and  cash 
sent  out  since  the  creation  of  this  department  is  something  more 
than  thirty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  as  much  more  has  perhaps 
been  done  of  which  we  have  no  record.  Hundreds  of  those  dear 
to  the  Church  would  have  suffered  and  endured  in  silence  but  for 
this  ministry  of  immediate  relief. 

As  the  study  of  the  field  and  the  work  progressed  leaflets,  books, 
and  the  many  and  varied  means  of  giving  and  receiving  informa- 
tion multiplied.  The  field  broadened  and  the  outlook  revealed 


THE  WOMAN'S  HOME  MISSION  SOCIETY.  527 


MISS    BENNETT. 


such  conditions  and  needs  that  the  demand  for  other  than  purely 
missionary  work  became  imperative. 

The  seaboard  cities  on  the  southeast  and  the  larger  cities  of 
the  great  Middle  West  were  beginning  to  struggle  under  the 
problem  of  a  large  irreligious  and  foreign-born  citizenship.  The  city  mission*. 
Chinese  and  Japanese,  with  all  the  degrading  vices  of  an  idol-wor- 
shiping people,  were  pouring  into  the  cities  on  the  Pacific  Slope. 
The  rapidly  changing  industrial  conditions  in  the  South,  as  else- 
where, were  driving  the  rural  white  population  into  the  towns 
and  cities  for  employment,  and  the  already  large  negro  element 
was  growing  larger.  The  factory  population,  with  its  difficult 
problems,  was  enormously  on  the  increase  ;  and  the  mining  camps, 
with  their  mixed  and  migratory  multitudes  of  every  nationality 
and  no  religion,  were  a  growing  evil.  The  churchgoing  classes 
were  undoubtedly  growing  stronger  and  perhaps  more  aggress- 
ive, but  the  nonchurchgoing  classes  were  certainly  growing  larger 
and  more  discontented.  City  mission  work  was  already  inaugu- 
rated in  the  center  before  the  department  was  created,  and  how 
best  to  supplement  the  efforts  of  the  local  city  Churches  cooper- 
ating with  the  agencies  already  in  existence,  was  the  question  re- 
quiring earnest  and  prayerful  study. 

In  line  with  the  general  policy  of  the  Church,  the  women  \ve re- 
authorized to  organize  city  mission  boards  wherever  there  were 
t\vo  or  more  auxiliaries,  three  women  from  each  auxiliary,  with 
the  pastor  and  presiding  elder  as  advisory  members,  forming  the 
board.  No  large  work  was  to  be  projected  without  the  consent 
of  the  Executive  Board  in  annual  session.  The  plan  has  grown  Qr  ,nizatlon 
in  favor,  and  eleven  cities  have  carried  on  successful  mission-,  of  cry  boards. 
Most  of  them  have  employed  a  trained  city  missionary,  who  vis- 
its from  house  to  house,  getting  into  the  home  life  and  close  to 
the  hearts  of  the  people;  giving  J'>ible  readings  and  holding  cot- 
tage prayer  meetings;  bringing  the  needs  of  the  destitute  and  the 
sick  to  the  notice  of  the  Church  people,  and  urging  on  parents 
and  children  the  importance  of  attending  the  services  of  the 
Church  and  the  Sunday  school. 

Free  kindergartens,  industrial  and  night  schools  have  been 
opened,  and  in  jfcne  city  a  day  nursery  provided  where  the  chil- 
dren of  working  women  can  be  cared  for. 

Doors  of  Hope  as  a  probationary  refuge  for  outcast  \vomen 
have  been  opened,  and  in  Dallas,  Tex.,  one  large  Home  and 


528 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Doors  of  Hope. 


MISS  BENNETT.  Training  School,  on  the  plan  of  State  reformatories,  has  been  es- 
tablished, where  these  poor,  social  lepers,  surrounded  by  the 
healthful  and  purifying  influences  of  a  Christian  home,  can  be 
trained  to  self-support.  Regeneration,  not  reformation,  is  the 
only  hope  for  these,  and  to  this  end  the  Woman's  Home  Mission 
Society  labors. 

Successful  mission  work  is  being  done  in  many  of  the  towns 
and  villages  by  the  "visiting  committees,"  which  are  a  special  and 
practical  feature  of  each  auxiliary. 

With  the  growth  and  development  of  the  organization  it  be- 
came apparent  that  other  than  primary  forms  of  educational  work 
must  be  done  to  accomplish  the  greatest  good  and  to  reach  the 
greatest  number.  An  education  department  was  created. 

For  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  on  the  Pacific  Slope  night 
schools  have  been  opened,  and  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to 
four  hundred  students  are  thus  brought  under  the  supervision  of 
earnest  Christian  women  who  study  their  needs  and  meet  them 
as  best  the}'  can.  In  Los  Angeles  a  permanent  mission  house  is 
being  erected,  where  both  men  and  women  can  be  brought  un- 
der Christian  influences  and  instruction. 

For  the  Cuban  population  of  Florida  two  schools  are  main- 
tained at  Tampa  and  one  large  and  growing  boarding  school  at 
Key  West.  From  four  to  five  hundred  students  are  annually 
enrolled  in  these. 

For  the  destitute  and  orphaned  children  in  the  mountainous 
section  of  East  Tennessee  the  Home  Mission  women  of  the  Hoi- 
ston  Conference,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  E.  E.  Wiley,  have 
established  at  Greeneville,  Tenn.,  an  industrial  school  and  or- 
phanage. 

In  London,  one  of  the  mountain  towns  of  Southeastern  Ken- 
tucky, a  high-grade  training  school  for  teachers  and  the  best 
youth  of  that  section  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  five 
years.  From  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  students 
annually  attend  this  school ;  and  of  these,  from  fifty  to  seventy- 
five  are  normal  students — district  school  teachers  who,  in  their 
day  schools  and  the  Sunday  schools  which  they  organize  and  con- 
duct, reach  and  instruct  a  student  body  of  something  more  than 
three  thousand.  The  majority  of  this  student  body  are  children 
from  the  cabin  homes  and  the  social  mines  that  are  reached  by  the 
Church  in  no  other  wav. 


OUR    FOREIGN    AND    FACTORY    POPULATION'.  529 

To  hold  up  Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour,  to  teach  the  Bible  as   Mlss  "ENN1 
the  revealed  word  and  will  of  God,  and  to  develop  men  and  women 
of  strong  Christian  character  who  will  glorify  God  serving  and 
saving  others  is  the  mission  of  those  who  teach  and  control  in 
these  schools. 

To  Mrs.  R.  K.  Hargrove,  for  nearly  seven  years  the  untiring, 
self-sacrificing  General  Secretary  of  the  organization,  much  of 
the  success  of  the  work  of  the  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society 
is  due.  Her  ability  to  study,  to  plan,  and  to  guide  marked  her  as 
a  providential  leader. 

The  work  of  the  Society  is  yet  in  its  beginnings,  but  the  foun- 
dations have  been  laid  strong  and  sure,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being 
the  chief  Corner  Stone.  To  the  womanhood  of  the  Church  he 
continues  to  say :  "Behold,  I  set  before  you  an  open  door."  His 
light  shines  with  increasing  brightness  upon  the  dark  places  of 
the  earth,  and  all  who  will  may  lift  up  their  eyes  and  see.  He  still 
looks  with  compassion  on  the  great  multitudes  that  are  like  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  and  says  to  his  Church :  "Feed  my  lambs." 

Number  of  members,  24,234;  receipts  for  connectional  work, 
$223,761 ;  receipts  for  local  work,  $358,880;  total  receipts,  $582.- 
641.     number  of  parsonages  built  and  aided,  1,147;  money  do-   statistics 
nated  to  parsonages,  $107,385.23;  money  loaned  to  parsonages,   i&e-i^i. 
$31,625;  value  of  supplies  distributed  (outside  of  receipts  above 
stated),  $36,793.52;  number  of  boarding  and  day  schools  support- 
ed, 4;  number  of  night  schools  supported,  4;  number  of  pupil? 
enrolled,  1,000  ;  number  of  teachers  employed,  32  ;  number  of  city 
mission  boards,  n  ;  number  of  rescue  homes  and  doors  of  hope. 
3;  number  of  missionaries  employed,  14. 


OUR   FOREIGN   AXD    FACTORY    POPULATION. 


EVERY  day  of  the  year  there  flow  into  the  ports  on  t!u 
coast  of  this  country  a  certain  number  of  thousands  of  poor  p 
ple.     In  the  week  in  which  I  left  Xew  York  three  of  the  gi 
foreign  steamship  companies  landed  in  that  one  port  ten  t 
sand  working  people.     These  people  have  come  t.;,  this 
if  from  Russia,  in  search  of  a  free  country  and  to  escape  fro: 


530  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  KELLEY.  forms  of  Christianity  as  they  have  known  Christianity  in  Russia,, 
where  it  has  never  taught  to  them,  in  their  experience  of  the 
national  life,  that  Christianity  means  to  love  thy  neighbor 
come.  as  thyself.  Jews  who  pour  week  after  week  and  month  after 

month  into  the  port  of  New  York  from  Russia,  come  to  us  to  es- 
cape from  the  Christians  they  have  left  behind  them,  because  they 
believe  that  in  this  country  there  is  freedom  and  a  different  spirit 
and  manifestation  of  Christianity. 

If  working  people  come  to  us  from  Italy,  they  come  because 
they  have  suffered,  under  the  oppression  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  under  the  taxation  of  the  modern  Protestant  govern- 
ment of  that  country,  to  a  point  beyond  which  they  can  suffer  no 
more;  and  they  come  here  believing  that  they  come  to  a  country 
not  only  of  wealth  and  of  promise  of  material  prosperity  for  them 
and  their  children,  but  to  a  Christian  land,  different  in  spirit  from 
the  land  they  have  left  behind  them. 

Wherever  the  immigrants  come  from,  they  come  driven  by  suf- 
fering at  home  and  impelled  by  hope  within. 

And  what  is  the  welcome  that  meets  them  when  they  come  to 
what  welcome?  our  ^ort^ern  ports?  The  worst  homes  on  Manhattan  Island 
are  the  homes  of  the  more  recent  immigrants.  The  welcome 
that  we  prepare  for  them  is  manifest  in  the  pestiferous  quarters 
of  the  worst  tenement  houses  on  the  lower  east  side  of  Manhat- 
tan, and  thither  they  drift,  and  there  they  settle,  and  there  a  large 
proportion  of  them  stay. 

What  welcome  do  they  find?  That  is  the  welcome  that  the 
landlords  have  prepared  for  them,  the  welcome  of  the  worst 
homes,  in  which,  in  certain  streets,  and  certain  tenement  houses 
the  deaths  of  children  under  one  year  of  age  have  in  recent  years 
averaged  fifty  per  cent  during  the  months  of  July  and  August  and 
the  first  half  of  September. 

There  are  three  bodies  organized  in  Xew  York  to  welcome  the 
immigrants,  and  they  welcome  them  very  cordially.  One  is  the 
Catholic  Church.  If  you  go  into  the  quarters  of  the  city  that 
are  populated  by  the  immigrants,  you  find  the  finest  churches  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  and  there  you  find,  waiting  to  give  them  re- 
ligious instruction  in  the  language  which  the  immigrants  have 
left  at  home — not  young  candidates  from  theological  schools, 
earning  a  better  field.  O,  no  ;  far  from  it!  There  you  find  the 
ablest,  the  most  learned,  the  most  polished,  and  the  most  tactful 


OUR    FOREIGN    AND    FACTORY    POPULATION.  531 

men  that  the  Catholic  Church  can  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  im- 
migrants. And  this  is  true  not  only  m  Xew  York,,  it  is  just  as 
true  in  Philadelphia,  in  Pittsburg,  in  Chicago,  as  it  is  on  Manhat- 
tan Island. 

In  one  ward  in  Chicago  live  fifty  thousand  working  people, 
chiefly  recent  immigrants.  They  go  there  just  as  they  go  to  the 
lower  east  side  of  Manhattan  Island,  and  there  to  receive  them  Th*  situation 

.  .  ....  .  .......  in  Chictgo. 

are  the  worst  homes  possible,  homes  tor  which,  with  the  pittance 
they  have  brought  with  them,  they  can  pay  rent  fur  the  first 
months  while  they  are  seeking  work,  or  working  up  from  worse 
occupations  to  better  ones.    In  that  ward  of  fifty  thousand  work- 
ing people,  what  religious  welcome  awaits  religious  immigrants? 
There  you  find  the  finest  Jesuit  Church  in  all  the  West,  not  with 
one  priest,  but  with  a  number  varying  from  twelve  to  twenty-four; 
priests  of  the  very  highest  degree  of  fitness  for  dealing  with  ther 
charges.     There  you  will  find  coming  to  confession  five  thousa'r..! 
men  in  preparation  for  the  great  Church,  holidays :  and  these  fi v._ 
thousand  men  represent  twelve  thousand  people  in  the  parish. 
A  little  parish  paper  is  printed  in  editions  of  twelve  thousand, 
suited  to  the  men,  women,  and  children  who  read  it.     Amon^ 
these  priests,  varying  in  number  from  twelve  to  twenty-four,  ac- 
cording to  the  season  of  the  year,  you  nil!  find  sons,  perhaps.  .>: 
the  old  Irish  settlers  in  that  immediate  neighborhood,  boys  who 
have  grown  up  in  school  there,  and  in  the  college  attached 
the  great  Jesuit  Church,  knowing  by  name  every  one  .  n"  the  ;akli 
who  has  lived  in  that  ward  for  the  pas:  twenty-five  years,  re: 
to  gossip  and  to  talk  over  old  times  with  all  the  young  men  v, 
present  themselves.     You  will  find  the  most  gracious 
men,  ready  to  talk  of  Ireland  with  the  immigrant- 
freshly  from  that  country,  homesick  and  eager  to 
You  will  find  the  wisest  possible  selection  f»r  the  purposes 
Church  in  the  twelve  or  twenty-four  priests  in  that  tnu 
The  Catholic  Church  is  very  wise,  from  her  own  point  .- 
the  welcome  she  gives  to  the  incoming  people.  _  In  t: 
a  large  and  well-equipped  Bohemian  Catholic  Cli 
the  preaching  Is  all  in  the  I'.ohemian  tongue,  an-! 
hemian  priest  is  as  ready  as  the  genial  Irish  priest 
old  times  in  their  own  language  with  t' 

Six  blocks  away  from  the  great  Jesuit  Church  i: 
Church,  with  another  genial  Irishman,  as  polished  and  cult! 


532  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS.    HLLEY. 


a  gentleman  as  can  be  found  in  all  the  West,  with  a  following  of 
all  the  rising  young  Irishmen  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  coming 
to  worship  in  this  church,  in  the  most  unattractive  district  of  the 
city,  because  of  the  man  who  officiates  there.  In  the  same  ward 
is  the  French  Cathedral,  a  church  built  after  the  model  of  the 
best  of  the  modern  French  churches,  and  with  services,  of  course, 
carried  on  in  the  language  of  the  parishioners.  There  is  a  Ger- 
man Catholic  Church,  with  priests  as  fit  for  their  duties  as  the 
priests  of  the  other  churches. 

The  services  in  every  one  of  these  churches  are  beautiful  and 
noble,  and  the  most  is  made  of  each  of  the  holidays,  national  and 
religious,  that  may  be  dear  to  the  incoming  people. 

Not  only  do  the  immigrants  come  to  these  Catholic  Churches, 
but  there  come  back  to  them  the  younger  people  of  families  who 
have  grown  prosperous  and  have  moved  away,  but  who  keep, 
for  the  sake  of  old  associations,  the  strong  ties  with  those  Catho- 
lic churches  which  they  knew  in  the  first  bitter  days  of  their  com- 
ing to  our  country.  And  besides  that,  for  the  sake  of  the  beauti- 
ful music  and  of  the  eloquent  preaching  that  are  often  of  great  in- 
terest to  them,  the  Protestant  people  in  the  neighborhood  go 
often  with  their  Catholic  friends  on  great  Church  and  national 
holidays  to  hear  the  music  and  listen  to  the  sermons. 

That  is  the  religious  welcome  that  awaits  incoming  immigrants 
from  the  Catholic  Church  in  every  one  of  our  great  industrial  cen- 
ters, in  greater  or  less  proportion.  I  know  no  other  ward  so  well 
equipped  as  this  ward  of  Chicago,  but  I  do  not  know  any  other 
ward  so  intimately  as  I  know  that  one.  I  know  that  on  Man- 
hattan Island  to-day  much  of  the  most  vital  work  being  done  on 
behalf  of  the  working  people,  from  their  own  point  of  view,  the 
most  vital  work  for  the  protection  of  the  homes  of  the  people  in 
their  purity,  is  clone  by  the  Paulist  Fathers  of  the  congregation 
planted  in  the  heart  of  the  great  Irish  district  of  the  West  Side. 
It  is  there  just  as  it  is  in  Chicago.  Abler  men  are  nowhere  to  be 
found  in  the  hierarchy  of  the  Catholic  Church  than  are  found  in 
this  colony,  living  among-  the  working  people,  teaching  them  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  representing  their 
interest?  in  the  municipal  and  industrial  life  of  Xew  York. 

That  is  the  welcome  offered  by  the  Catholic  Church.  Now,  in 
that  same  ward  of  Chicago  there  are  two  small  mission  churches 
representing  two  different  Protestant  denominations.  One  of 


OUR    FOREIGN   AND    FACTORY    POPULATION.  533 

them  has  had  its  pulpit  filled,  ever  since  I  have  known  it,  by  a 
man  whose  chief  hold,  so  far  as  I  have  ever  been  able  to  ascertain, 
upon  any  body  of  the  people  of  Chicago  is  the  Grand  Army  but- 
ton that  he  wears  on  his  coat.  He  has  no  other  qualification  that 
I  have  been  able  to  discover  for  filling  a  Christian  pulpit. 

The  other  is  a  little  church  of  bad  acoustic  properties,  entirely 
unattractive  inside  and  out,  with  a  bell  calculated  to  drive  away  all 
but  the  deaf  and  an  organ  that  ought  to  drive  away  even  the  deaf. 
The  pulpit  has  been  filled,  for  a  series  of  years,  by  candidates  for 
the  ministry,  youngsters  not  yet  out  of  the  theological  schools, 
whose  qualifications  for  a  church  pulpit  are  not  well  shown  in 
this  pulpit,  which  they  fill  experimentally — and  it  is  needless  to 
say  that  callow  boys  fresh  from  farms  do  not  attract  the  immigrant 
population.  That  typifies  the  welcome  that  the  immigrants  re- 
ceive from  the  Protestant  Churches. 

In  New  York  there  are  two  other  organizations  waiting  to 
welcome  the  immigrants.  No  other  organization  on  that  island 
holds  together  so  powerfully  and  makes  itself  felt  so  uniformly 
as  the  organization  of  Tammany  Hall.  If  a  man  wants  to  fiiul 
work,  he  must  stand  well  with  the  leader  of  his  district.  Xo 
great  corporation  dare  employ,  in  any  district  in  which  it  has 
any  material  interests,  a  man  who  does  not  stand  well  with  his 
district  leader;  because  as  soon  as  the  corporation  ventures  to  do 
that  a  process  of  blackmail  sets  in  with  such  vigor  that  the  cor- 
poration cannot  afford  it.  There  is  no  device  of  organization 
that  is  not  used  with  the  utmost  skill  to  welcome  the  immigrants. 
If  a  child  wants  to  get  into  the  overcrowded  schools,  the  district 
leader's  word  is  all-powerful,  and  the  child  \vho?e  father  has  no 
standing  with  Tammany  Hall  makes  room  for  tli 
father  is  in  good  standing.  Whatever  the  unfortun 
wants  to  set  his  hand  to.  outside  of  the  : 
have  the  recommendation  of  his  political  chief. 

Interlocked  with  the  power  of  the  political  < 
of  the  saloon.     If  a  man  can't  pav  his  rent.  th< 
mav  not  make  him  really  welcome  to  this    Country. 


come  is  most  doubttful,but  almost  at  every  c  > 
working  class  district  is  the  saloon  keepe 
fill  the  immigrant  is  for  a  loan  without 
publican's  consideration  that  the  incoming  " 
with  certaintv  that  if  the  money  i-  rofuse-! 


534  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  KELLEY.  ^Q  kindliest  and  most  courteous  way,  and  he  will  go  out  of  that 
saloon  without  the  loan,  maybe,  but  with  the  assurance  that  he 
will  always  be  cordially  welcomed  there.  There  he  gets  the  most 
demonstrative  welcome  that  he  ever  receives  in  the  early  months 
of  his  residence  in  this  our  Christian  country. 

I  knew  a  missionary  once  who  went  to  Syria,  a  most  faithful 
and  hard-working  woman.  She  was  not  a  Methodist  missionary, 
though  she  was  as  faithful  and  as  full  of  zeal  as  if  she  had  been 
one.  The  longer  she  stayed  in  Syria  the  more  the  vision  of  her 
native  country  rose  glorified  before  her  eyes,  and  the  more  fer- 
vently she  told  the  converts  of  the  freedom  and  the  beauty  and 
the  warm  Christianity  of  life  in  America.  She  stayed  a  number 
of  years  in  Syria,  until  the  World's  Fair  was  coming  on  in  Chi- 
cago in  1893;  and  then  the  tidings  came  to  Syria  that  there  were 

Syrians  in  opportunities  for  the  Syrian  to  reach  great  and  sudden  prosper- 
ity. Then  her  teachings  bore  fruit  in  the  wild  tide  of  enthusiasm 
nmong  all  her  parish  to  go  to  Chicago  and  share  the  good  things 
of  which  this  faithful  missionary  had  been  talking.  So  a  large 
body  of  Syrians  came  to  Chicago.  Unfortunately  their  mission- 
a:y  friend  did  not  come  with  them,  and  they  received  the  welcome 
I  have  been  describing.  Finally,  through  bad  health,  she  %vas 
obliged  to  come  home  herself.  One  day  she  met  one  of  her  oM 
Syrian  friends  peddling  in  the  streets  of  Chicago,  and  she  asked 
permission  to  visit  the  immigrant.  The  Syrian,  very  much  per- 
nlexed  by  the  offer,  courteously  tried  to  waive  it ;  but  the  mission- 
ary was  persistent  to  the  point  of  relentlessness,  and  insisted  upon 
visiting  him.  When  she  finally  received  the  address,  it  was  in 
fine  of  the  most  wretched  tenement  houses,  in  the  most  wretched 
^treet,  in  the  poorest  ward  of  the  city.  The  missionary  went 
to  sec  her  former  charges.  She  found  that  they  had  suffered 
hideously  in  the  process  of  becoming  acclimated  industrially,  as 
.veil  as  physically,  in  the  brutal  winter  that  followed  the  World's 
Fair  in  that  city  when  fifty  thousand  people  were  out  of  work. 
I  hey  did  not  reproach  her  (for  the  Syrians  are  most  courteous, 
raid  would  hesitate  much  to  contrast  their  actual  experience  with 
the  things  they  had  been  taught  to  expect  in  this  land  of  Chris- 
tianity j,  yet  that  missionary  told  me  afterwards  she  had  never 
-pent  so  bitter  a  half  hour  as  during  that  visit  to  the  first  of  her 
former  charges  whom  she  had  met  in  America. 
The  missionary  tried  carnestlv  to  interest  in  the  Svrians  of 


OUR    FOREIGN    AND    FACTORY    POPULATION.  535 

Chicago  the  people  who  had  maintained  the  foreign  missions 
among  the  Syrians  in  Syria.  But  the  Syrians  in  Chicago  live  in 
very  dirty  houses;  and  some  are  dishonest  when  they  sell  laces; 
and  they  lose  all  the  charm  and  poetry  that  attaches  to  them  liv- 
ing thousands  of  miles  away  in  their  romantic  homes  in  Svria. 
So  no  one  could  be  induced  to  care  to  look  after  them,  and  they 
are  still  peddling  and  begging  their  way,  living  in  the  most 
wretched  tenements,  in  the  most  wretched  streets,  of  the  most 
wretched  ward  of  that  great  city  of  the  West.  That  is  the  wel- 
come we  have  given  to  some  of  those  who  have  been  prepared 
with  such  care  and  cost  to  come  to  our  Christian  country. 

Nor  is  this  the  whole  of  the  experience  of  the  working  people. 
The  three  great  organizations  that  welcome  them— the  Catholic 
Church,  the  saloons,  and  the  political  society — touch  their  indus- 
trial  life  only  negatively.     A  man  must  stand  well  politically  to 
be  able  to  get  work,  but  he  may  stand  well  politically  and  still  nut 
get  any  work.     Negatively,  the  organization  is  very  powerful ; 
positively,  it  is  by  no  means  so  powerful.     So  thousands  of  the 
immigrants  drift  into  the  most  unsatisfactory  occupations  that 
are  open  to  people  in  this  country.     In  the  single  city  of  Xew 
York  we  have  over  twenty  thousand  groups  of  working  pe<>p> 
licensed  to  make  clothing  in  the  tenement  houses.     Now  a  Xe'.v  where  ther 
York  tenement  house  is  not  a  fit  place  for  people  to  live  in.     It  '•'"&• 
is  dirty,  it  is  overcrowded,  it  is  unwholesome  and  usually  darV  : 
and  we  have  been  assured  by  the  most  expert  te<timo;iv  in..: 
could  be  obtained,  during  the  past  wintvr.  by  the  nhy 
the  Board  of  Health  and  the  physicians  connected  with 
hospitals  for  consumption,  that  more  than  one-half  of  a! 
pie  who  live  in  tenement  house?  are  afflicted  with  tu! 
in  some  form  or  other  (not  m-cessarilv  with  consun 
lungs,  but  tuberculosis  in  some  form  or  other >;  and  th 
who  gave  this  testimony  beforv  the  Tenement   lli>u*e 
sion  added  the  further  testimony  that  tuberculosis  is  n-« 
nized  as  one  of  the  most  communicable  of  infectious 
tagious  diseases.     Now,  when  we  have  twenty  thousand 
groups  of  workers  in  the  garment  trades  in  the  teneir.en; 
that  means  that  the  homes  of  twenty  thousand  familio-;  :; 
ruined  by  being  turned  into  workshops.     <  hily  the  m<>- 
ed  among  the   immigrant  population   are  willing   to 
homes  in  this  wav.     Tt  means  further  that  the  pr-~>. !-.:*: 


536  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  KKI.I.KV.  homes  is  sold  not  only  on  Manhattan  Island,  not  altogether  in 
the  city  of  New  York  and  in  the  Middle  States,  but  that  it  is  sent 
out  all  over  the  country  with  its  burdens  of  disease,  and  its  bur- 
den of  conscience  (that  it  should  carry  with  it  but  seems  not  to 
carry),  with  its  threat  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  to  whom  it 
goes,  and  its  confession  of  welfare  destroyed  in  the  homes  of 
people  who  made  it. 

The  Dry  Goods  Economist  is  the  great  organ  of  the  retail  dry 
goods  trade.  It  is  the  authority  to  which  every  merchant  turns. 
The  Dry  Goods  Economist  has  recently  published  some  statis- 
tics so  brief  that  they  can  be  safely  quoted.  If  states  that,  of  all 
the  garments  that  are  made  in  the  United  States  to  be  worn  by 
Sweat  shops,  our  own  people  and  exported  to  foreign  countries,  the  manufac- 
ture is  carried  on  in  about  this  proportion :  In  Massachusetts, 
under  the  rigorous  and  righteous  factory  laws  of  that  State,  there 
are  made  about  twenty  million  dollars'  worth  of  clothing  annu- 
ally. In  Pennsylvania,  under  less  rigorous  legislation,  there  are 
made  about  thirty  millions.  In  Illinois  there  are  made  about 
forty  millions ;  and  in  New  York  City  alone  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  mililons'  worth,  or  about  thirty  millions  more 
than  in  those  three  States  put  together. 

1  wonder  how  many  of  the  men  and  women  who  are  in  this  hall 
this  afternoon  know  whether  or  not  they  are  wearing  clothing 
made  by  the  unhappy  immigrants  in  the  tenement  houses  of  New 
York  City.  We  have  a  trick  for  taking  it  for  granted  that  if  we 
will  spend  our  money  and  pay  high  prices  for  what  we  buy  we 
sacrifice  enough,  and  we  may  rest  content  with  the  assurance 
that  out  of  the  high  prices  we  pay  there  will  go  a  fair  share  of  re- 
v/here our  ward  to  the  working  people.  But  nothing  could  be  more  snob- 
ciothes  are  bish  or  more  untrue  than  that  assumption.  I  have  myself  seen  a 
most  expensive  suit  of  clothing,  of  the  finest  sort  of  evening  wear 
for  men,  being  made  in  a  room  in  which  children  were  ill  with 
smallpox,  because  the  father,  a  highly  skilled  tailor,  was  so  ill 
paid,  year  in  and  year  out,  for  his  work,  that  when  his  chil- 
dren fell  sick  he  dared  not  make  known  their  illness,  even  by 
calling  in  a  physician,  lest  he  lose  the  few  dollars  due  him  for 
making  the  clothing  he  had  on  hand  at  the  time;  lest  he  should 
be  as  lie  said,  "without  money  for  medicine  if  the  children  lived, 
and  without  money  for  coffins  if  they  died."  I  have  seen  clothing 
of  the  most  expensive  grades  made  in  the  homes  of  the  most 


OUR    FOREIGN    AND    FACTORY    POPULATION.  537 

wretched  Italian  immigrants  in  Chicago.  \Yhile  one  garment  M*s-  Kl 
was  on  the  mother's  knee  covering  a  sick  child,  the  twin  gar- 
ment was  used  to  cover  another  sick  child  in  the  bed.  both  chil- 
dren ill  with  malignant  scarlet  fever,  and  the  reason  given  by  the 
mother  was  the  same  :  that  she  was  so  ill  paid  when  her  children 
were  well  that  she  could  not  stop  to  take  care  oi  them  when  they 
were  sick. 

None  of  us  can  know,  unless  we  take  trouble  to  im'onn  our- 
selves as  to  our  sources  of  supply,  whether  or  not  we  have  clean 
hands.     Directly,  of  course,  the  manufacturer  is  responsible,  or  v-'ho  -.t 
the    contractor    is    responsible;    but    indirectly    all    those    men   ! 
are  serving  us.     Xo  manufacturer  can  stay  in  the  field  if  men 
and  women  do  not  buy  his  wares.     Xo  merchant  can  pay  his  ex- 
penses if  men  and  women  are  not  satisfied  with  his  way  of  con- 
ducting his  trade.     The  indirect  employers  of  all  the  immigrants 
are  we  who  buy  their  products.     Every  merchant  will  tell  you, 
if  he  cuts  wages,  that  it  is  because  people  are  not  willing  to  pay 
full  value  for  the  things  which  he  has  to  sell.     Every  contractor 
will  tell  you  that  the  reason  the  working  hours  are  so  long  and 
wages  so  low,  and  that  he  has  to  work  with  the  help  of  little 
children  or  close  his  factory,  is  not  that  he  wants  to  work  his  peo- 
ple twelve,  or  sixteen,  or  twenty  hours  a  day.  not  that  he  wants, 
out  of  gross  inhumanity,  to  have  little  children  work  in  his  es- 
tablishment.    Far  from  it!     The  manufacturers  are  like  the  re- 
of  us.     They  want  to  live,  to  carry  on  their  occupation;  they 
not  want  to  be  driven  to  the  wall  by  competition  and  force 
of  business  by  the  dissatisfaction  of  their  customers, 
believe  that,  when  we  go  to  a  bargain  counter  and  hu\ 
goods,  we  are  necessarily  contributing  to  the  degradation  of  our 
immigrant  workers,  but  when  \vc  go  to  that  counter  ignor 
and  buy  goods  as  to  the  history  of  which  \\ 
concern  and  no  pang  of  conscience,  we  are  helping  t 
in  the  poverty  that  they  arc  trying  to  lift  these  pe< 
come  to  us  in  all  confidence  that  this  is  the  land 
of  fair  dealing. 

The  tragic  point  is  that  we  receive  these  people 
a  feeling  that  because  they  have  been  alien  m  r 
alien  to  us  after  they  come  here.     Of  c 
strengthened  by  the  fact   that  the  immigrant; 
colonies:  that  the  Poles  live  with  the  Fnles. 


538 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 


MRS.    KKLLEY. 


What  can  be 

done? 


The  beginning 
of  dams. 


Italians,  and  that  they  are  very  slow  to  learn  the  English  language 
and  make  known  their  need  of  sympathy  and  help.  It  is,  of 
course,  to  that  extent  their  own  fault  that  we  go  on  thinking  of 
them  as  aliens  who  have  no  claims  on  us.  But  this  does  not  ex- 
empt us  from  the  duty  of  giving  them  an  entirely  different  wel- 
come from  that  which  they  get  to-day. 

Surely  this  great  body  of  missionaries  can  help !  They  can 
help  by  making  public  opinion  as  to  our  errors  in  the  North,  and 
they  can  take  good  care  that  those  errors  are  not  duplicated  here 
in  the  South  as  manufacturing  interests  grow  up  here.  Some 
of  us  have  gone  on  there  through  a  long  series  of  years,  trying 
to  improve  the  condition  of  the  immigrants ;  but  the  progress  we 
have  been  able  to  make  is  greatly  hampered  by  the  fact  that  the 
purchasers  at  a  distance  have  not  helped  us.  I  have  said  to  my 
friends  in  Colorado  that  that  seems  to  be  the  great  Pharisee  State. 
It  has  no  garment  manufactory.  The  people  of  Colorado  buy 
the  products  of  the  worst  industrial  conditions  in  the  East,  with 
light  hearts,  thinking  ill  of  the  people  of  the  East  because  of  our 
evil  industrial  conditions ;  while  those  very  Colorado  purchasers 
by  their  careless  buying  are  helping  to  fasten  our  evil  industrial 
conditions  upon  us  and  make  it  impossible  for  us  to  improve 
them.  And  more  and  more  the  same  thing  will  obtain  with  the 
brothers  and  sisters  in  the  South,  if  they  do  not  also  take  pains 
to  ascertain  how  far  they  themselves  by  careless  purchasing  are 
contributing  to  the  degradation  of  the  working  classes. 

Every  slum  in  Chicago,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York 
has  its  own  typical  industry.  Out  of  every  one  of  them  there 
goes  forth  some  great  product  of  degraded  conditions  of  labor. 
1  hese  goods  are  not  sold  altogether  in  the  communities  in  which 
they  are  made.  They  are  sold  to  the  people  all  over  the  United 
States  wherever  purchasers  choose  to  buy  them ;  and  unless  we 
can  enlist  the  purchasers  all  over  the  country  to  help  us  to  help 
the  immigrants  of  the  great  cities  of  the  North,  they  will  never  be 
effectively  helped. 

But  that  is  not  all.  One  of  the  speakers  this  afternoon  has 
pointed  out  that  the  South  itself  is  becoming  a  great  manufac- 
turing district.  As  I  came  to  New  Orleans  from  New  York  T 
topped  in  Knoxville  and  found  in  that  beautiful  city  in  Tennes- 
see, in  the  iron  districts,  the  beginning  of  slums.  From  there  I 


OUR    FOREIGN    AND    FACTORY    POPULATION.  539 

went  to  Harriman,  and  there,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  found-  MHS  «"•«•«. 
ries,  were  the  beginnings  of  typical  slums.  Again  in  Chatta- 
nooga, around  the  great  foundries,  in  all  directions,  were  t he- 
perfect  typical  beginnings  of  slums.  And  the  question  that 
now  confronts  the  South  is  whether,  as  the  great  industries 
come  in,  the  South  will  profit  by  the  bitter  experience  of  the 
North  and  will  avoid  the  conditions  that  we  have  developed  there. 
If  you  can  plant  the  kindergarten  and  well-conducted  schools, 
and  if  you  maintain  adequate  public  schools,  if  you  can  put  in 
them  means  of  suitable  recreation  for  the  young  people  as 
they  grow  up,  and,  most  of  all,  if  you  can  find  men  and  women 
who  are  willing  to  go  and  live  with  the  incoming  factory  popula- 
tion in  the  Southland,  you  need  never  have  these  problems  in  ag- 
gravated forms.  If  we  in  the  North  had  had  a  sufficient  body  of 
people  willing  to  go  and  live  in  a  neighborly  and  brotherly  way 
in  the  immigrant  colonies,  we  need  never  have  had  the  slum-. 
But  our  Christianity  has  never  been  adequate  to  the  demand  that 
the  incoming  foreigner  has  made.  Tf  he  would  stay  at  a  distance 
and  live  in  his  tenement  house,  not  coming  near  Fifth  Avenue, 
but  letting  us  send  him  the  doctor  and  the  missionary,  or  any  one 
who  would  stand  between  the  great  body  of  the  native  American 
people  and  the  newcomers,  well  and  good:  but  a?  for  going  to 
live  among  the  incoming  brothers  in  a  neighborly  way.  we  havo  W111  the  Somth 
not  recognized  that  as  a  general  and  imperative  duty.  It  profit? 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  South  will  profit  by  the  bitter  !< 
sons  we  have  had  to  learn  at  the  North,  and  will  use  and  increa-e 
the  enginery  that  has  been  described  to  you  by  mv  predecessor 
this  afternoon.  If  that  can  be  used  on  a  large  enough  -rale.  t!i- 
North  will  not  have  suffered  in  vain. 


THE  LITERATURE  OF   T<<>MF   MISSION: 


MR: 


To  illustrate  the  difference  between  'lie  •>!• 
of  h.ome  mission  fields,  take  the  common  case 
in  distress  by  some  charitable  visitor.     I  he  father  i: 
drifting,  perhaps,  toward  the  saloon:  th.e  :notl 
couraged.  is  overborne  in  the  unequal  stru.gpe 


54° 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS. 
HAMMOND. 


UniBccess- 
ful  jhilan- 
thropy. 


The  ques- 
tion. 


rags  ;  while  both  parents  and  the  younger  children  depend  for  their 
ill-cooked,  scanty  food  on  the  poor  wages  of  the  older  children, 
from  seven  years  old  upward.  Time  was  when  the  discoverer  of 
this  situation  would  have  seen  her  way  clearly ;  she  would  send  the 
family  a  load  of  wood,  a  generous  supply  of  eatables,  and  some  of 
her  children's  outgrown  clothing;  she  would  also  find  or  make  a 
few  odd  jobs  for  the  man.  Having  done  this,  her  conscience  would 
be  clear,  and  it  would  find  the  same  family,  a  few  months  later,  a 
little  deeper  in  dirt  and  discouragement,  a  little  farther  on  toward 
pauperism  and  the  loss  of  self-respect. 

Why  should  this  Christian  deed  have  such  an  unchristian  result? 
Why  will  not  this  family  come  to  church  and  accept  the  consola- 
tions of  religion  ?  Why  will  the  man  drink,  and  the  woman  persist 
in  being  a  slattern ?  Why  do  the  boys  take  to  cigarettes,  and  the 
girls  drift  into  the  street?  Has  the  power  of  Christ  to  transform 
human  lives  failed? 

These  questions  have  been  asked  in  amazement,  in  doubt,  some- 
times in  the  darkness  of  despair ;  and  those  who  have  tried  to  work 
out  the  answers  have  come  upon  strange  things.  The  man  has 
taken  to  drink  because  the  saloon  offers  him,  as  the  Church  does 
not,  a  clean,  bright,  comfortable  place  in  which  to  gratify  his  natural 
social  instincts ;  or  because  insufficient  food  and  poor  nutrition  have 
created  a  physical  demand  for  a  stimulant,  which  whisky  furnishes 
for  the  man,  as  do  cigarettes  and  the  excitements  of  the  street  for 
the  children.  There  is  little  to  spend  on  food  and  clothing,  because 
rent  is  high  even  for  poor  shelter.  Though  food  were  both  well 
cooked  and  sufficient  in  quantity,  bad  sewerage,  decaying  refuse,  and 
foul  water  are  quite  sufficient  to  depress  the  physical  and  often  the 
moral  nature  below  the  danger  point.  The  vicious  example  of  the 
father's  idleness  is  often  an  enforced  one,  because  it  is  cheaper  to 
run  machinery  by  childish  hands,  though  childish  bodies  and  minds 
be  stunted,  and  the  natural  rebellion  against  overwork  makes  the 
path  toward  crime  attractive.  From  whatever  point  the  problem 
is  approached,  it  is  found  imbedded  in  a  tangle  of  causes  and  effects 
that  reach  out  to  the  farthest  bounds  of  society.  Economic  laws, 
municipal  corruption,  social  conditions,  the  very  constitution  of  the 
human  body,  seem  grinding  to  powder  this  helpless  family  mass. 
What  can  the  Christian  do  ?  When  the  full  force  of  it  all  first  bursts 
upon  the  mind  one  feels  that  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  stand 
beside  them  and  be  ground  to  death  with  them  in  the  dust.  If  the 
load  may  not  be  lifted,  that  is  the  best  life  can  offer  to  any  one; 


II  \WHOND. 


THE    LITERATURE    OF    HOME    MISSIONS.  54! 

and  to  feel  that  passionate  sense  of  brotherhood  it  is  worth  while 
to  pass  through  that  country  of  despair. 

Here  in  the  South  the  new  and  rapidly  changing  industrial  con- 
ditions are  forcing  us  for  the  first  time  to  face  these  puzzling  facts. 
It  is  only  in  recent  years  that  we  have  felt  what  has  long  been 
true  elsewhere :  that  the  Churches  have  slight  hold  on  a  large  part  ch«re«  i« 
of  our  population.  It  is  since  the  farms  began  to  lie  idle  and  the  l 
inflow  to  the  cities  began — the  cities  where  factories  and  foundries 
have  sprung  up;  where  rents  and  living  are  too  high  for  factory 
wages;  where  municipal  indifference  and  corruption  rob  the  poorest 
and  most  needy  citizens  of  their  birthright  to  pure  air  and  whole- 
some water ;  where  the  salt  of  the  earth  is  heaped  up  afar  from  what 
it  must  touch  to  save,  stored  in  comfortable  homes  and  handsome 
churches  at  the  other  end  of  town. 

We  have  tried  to  do  our  duty.  We  have  built  some  mission 
chapels.  Ministers  of  the  gospel  are  spending  blameless  and  de- 
voted lives  among  these  people,  preaching,  visiting,  and  praying 
among  them,  and  yet  confessing  in  sorrow  that  the  people  slip 
through  their  fingers.  Even  those  who  are  swept  into  the  Church 
on  the  wave  of  some  great  revival  drift  out  again  with  the  undertow 
into  the  sea  of  hopeless  humanity.  In  the  doubt  and  discourage- 
ment of  a  growing  sense  of  failure  we  are  awaking  to  a  more  poign- 
ant sense  of  brotherhood  ;  and  that  is  a  step  forward,  though  it  be 
taken  in  the  dark. 

But  is  that  the  end  of  life — to  suffer  and  to  fail  ?    Did  Christ  mean 
for  the  world  to  stop  at  Calvary?     Or  did  he  rivet  there  the  con- 
nection between  human  lives  and  the  almighty  power  of  love  that 
would  bring  success  out  of  failure,  and  transit  inn  tir.s  very  \ 
day  world  into  a  real  kingdom  of  heaven  ? 

We  have  had  too  narrow  thoughts  of  him.     We  have  glorified 
want  and  suffering  as  things  good  in  themselves,  and  taken  too  pa- 
tiently our  brethren's  lack  of  all  things  decent  in  this 
their  souls  could  be  saved  for  the  life  beyond. 
offers  of  heavenly  mercy  to  people  who  nee< 
have  thought  of  our  church  worship  and  the  giving 
Christian  duty;  but  some  of  us  have  forgotten  c 
as  the  makers  of  money  and  the  spenders  of  ; 
housekeepers,  as  citizens. 

What  right  have  we  to  pure  air  and  water  and 
when  down  yonder  our  brothers  are  being  poisoner 


542  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

caving  garbage  in  their  filthy  streets,  and  drinking  water  from  wells 
that  are  filled  with  the  seepage  from  soil  rotten  with  human  refuse? 
Why  do  we  offer  homes  in  heaven  to  people  whom  our  laws  rob  of 
earthly  homes — to  men  whom  we  force  into  idleness  by  thrusting 
their  wives  and  children,  the  home-makers  and  those  for  whom 
the  home  is  made,  into  the  factories  ?  Why  do  we  talk  about  heav- 
enly rest  to  fagged-out,  half-starved  sewing  women,  and  then  buy 
ready-made  clothing  from  the  bargain  counters  at  the  bare  cost  of 
the  material,  and  go  home  reckoning  ourselves  free  from  our  sisters' 
blood? 

O,  -.ye  have  been  playing  at  home  missions  !  We  do  not  know  the 
need.  We  do  not  know  what  can  be  done,  what  is  being  done  else- 
where, to  meet  the  need. 

First,  know  the  need.  Find  somebody — he  is  not  far  from 
AH  expert-  vour  ^ome — caught  in  the  whirl  of  modern  life,  and  being  dragged 
under  the  wheels  that  bring  prosperity  to  so  many.  See  what  you 
can  do  to  drag  him  out.  Measure  your  own  aching  muscles  against 
the  forces  that  pull  against  you.  Feel  your  own  bones  crunch  and 
your  tendons  wrench  with  his.  Realize  in  the  depths  of  your  soul 
how  little  God  means  to  him  and  why. 

But  do  not  despair.  If,  as  we  realize  the  need,  we  realize  the  force 
which  is  moving  through  the  lives  of  men  to  meet  that  need,  our 
hearts  will  be  lifted  up  indeed.  There  is  so  much  being  done,  our 
own  opportunities  so  loom  up  on  one  side,  while  our  responsibilities 
so  fearfully  balance  them  on  the  other,  that  it  is  hard  to  speak  in 
clear  and  measured  terms. 

I  wish  every  man  who  can  vote,  and  every  woman  who  has  voters 
to  train,  could  read  Dr.  Shaw's  books  on  European  municipal  gov- 
ernments. We  are  so  used  to  corruption  and  inefficiency  in  our 
cities  that  we  will  hardly  believe  in  the  possibility  of  such  noble 
service  to  God  and  our  fellows  on  the  level  of  mere  citizenship  until 
Examples.  we  know  that  it  is,  and  for  years  has  been,  rendered  elsewhere.  Let 
us  learn  by  the  experience  of  older  and  wiser  communities  the  con- 
nection between  ill-lighted  streets  and  crime  ;  how  public  baths,  gym- 
nasiums, playgrounds,  and  kindergartens  can  largely  take  the  place 
of  juvenile  reformatories ;  what  you  can  do  as  Christian  citizens  to 
strengthen  and  guard  the  sacredness  of  the  home  and  the  lives  of 
helpless  children.  Read  Gould's  "Housing  of  the  Working  People," 
the  Report  of  the  New  York  Tenement  House  Committee  of  1894.. 
and  Miss  Hill's  ''Homes  of  the  London  Poor,"  and  see  in  how 


THE    LITERATURE    OF    HOME    MISSION'S.  543 

many  ways  love  may  work  for  the  homes  of  the  poor,  through  just  M"-s 
laws  and  through  wise  methods  in  business,  as  well  as  through  the  " 
personal  contact  which  is  at  once  love's  supreme  pOAver  and  the 
pledge  of  love's  eternal  triumph. 

And  do  not  comfort  yourself  with  the  threadbare  statement  that 
there  is  no  need  for  these  things  in  the  South.  Our  evils  are  of 
more  recent  growth,  less  gigantic  than  in  older  countries,  and  may 
more  easily  be  controlled  if  attacked  in  time ;  but  leaving  out  alto-  A  no*  u 
gether  the  needs  of  the  whites,  great  as  they  often  are,  do  not  "our 
brothers  in  black"  people  slums,  even  in  our  villages,  which  are  at 
once  a  disgrace  and  a  menace  to  our  civilization?  We  do  not  lift 
a  hand  to  make  homes  possible  to  them.  What  wonder  is  it  that 
out  of  these  hovels,  bare  of  the  very  decencies  of  life,  some  beasts 
of  prey  should  come  ?  The  miracle  is  that  there  should  be  any  moral- 
ity at  all ;  that  so  many  should  keep  up  the  unequal  fight,  battling 
for  their  children  and  for  something  that  they  can  call  a  home. 

Here  on  this  same  plane  of  service  through  citizenship.  Llov  1'* 
"Newest  England"  leads  us  into  a  region  of  actual  hard  facts  which, 
might  seem  to  some  of  us  more  like  romance.  The  book  is  not  at 
all  religious,  in  the  general  understanding  of  that  term ;  but  it  tells 
of  that  almost  unknown  country  which,  beyond  all  others,  is,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  weaving  the  spirit  of  Christ  into  the  very 
fabric  of  its  constitution  and  customs;  and  the  result  is  already 
something  for  Christian  men  to  ponder  over. 

Hodder's  "Life  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury"  is  a  revelation  of  what 
may  be  done  for  Christ  in  legislation ;  and  Willoughby  and  De 
Graffenried's  book  on  "Child  Labor,"  as  well  as  Erickson's  Report 
on  the  same  subject,  should  open  our  eyes  to  one  form  of  legislation 
needed  here  and  now.  Shuey's  little  book  on  "Factory  IV"pii-  ar.d 
Their  Employers"  is  full  of  beautiful  things  that  the  spirit  of  Christ 
can  and  does  do.  working  through  sound  business  methods  in  lines 
of  industry  which,  more  than  any  others  perhaps,  are  to  develop 
the  commercial  greatness  of  the  South. 

Josiah  Flynt's  books  tell  us  in  popular  style  things  we  ought  to 
know  about  our  brethren  of  the  underworld  of  crime  :  wh 
Wines's  book.  "Punishment  and  Reformation,"  ought  to  be  read   makl;u 
by  every  one  who  feels  the  deficiencies  of  our  Southern  prison  sys-  crinnn»u. 
terns,  and  more  especially  by  every  one  who  does  not  know  that 
such  deficiencies  exist.     But  if  we  study  the  best  ways  in  which  to 
deal   with   criminals   alreadv   manufactured — manufactured    largely 


544  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

MRS.  through  the  indifference  and  ignorance  of  Christian  people — let  us 

HAMMOND.  i    •  r  1  ,  .  1  J  1  • 

learn  something  from  those  who  have  not  neglected,  as  we  have  in 
the  South,  the  preventive  work  among  criminals  yet  in  the  making. 
The  Annual  Reports  of  the  American  Association  of  Charities  and 
Correction  will  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  subject  of  juvenile  re- 
formatories, as  well  as  on  many  other  practical  questions ;  and  the 
Reports  of  the  George  Junior  Republic  at  Freeville,  N.  Y.,  show  in 
still  another  direction  the  power  of  life  that  may  be  imparted  to 
children  morally  neglected  or  deficient  through  loving  personal 
service. 

Peabody's  "Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question"  is  a  noble 
discussion  of  the  principles  underlying  Christian  living ;  while  Hen- 
derson's little  book  on  "Social  Settlements,"  Brown's  "Develop- 
Books  for  rnent  of  Thrift,"  Richmond's  "Friendly  Visiting  among  the  Poor," 
work.  Field's  "How  to  Help  the  Poor,"  and  a  number  of  others  which 
you  will  find  in  the  Home  Mission  Department  of  the  book  cata- 
logue and  in  the  book  exhibit,  are  helpful  in  practical  work.  Books 
like  these  can  be  recommended  to  that  large  class  of  Christians  who 
feel  the  claims  of  their  less  fortunate  brothers,  and  who  long  to 
translate  their  sympathy  into  service,  but  who  hesitate  where  and 
how  to  begin. 

The  literature  of  rescue  work  is  mostly  conspicuous  by  its  ab- 
sence ;  but  if  any  one  doubts  the  results  of  work  among  those  women 
whom  the  standards  of  men  rather  than  the  judgment  of  God  have 
placed  in  the  lowest  depth  of  degradation,  "The  True  Story  of 
Delia,"  by  Mrs.  Whittemore,  ought  to  give  them  more  faith  in  the 
redeeming  power  of  love. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  find,  there  is  an  utter  dearth  of  books 
in  regard  to  the  needs  of  the  mountaineers,  except  as  they  may  be 
found  by  inference  in  some  of  the  stories  of  John  Fox,  Jr.,  and 
Charles  Egbert  Craddock. 

Of  making  many  books  on  the  theory  and  practice  of  the  kinder- 
garten there  is  no  end.  To  those  who  do  not  know  the  wonderful 
formative  and  redemptive  power  brought  to  bear  through  this 
agency  on  the  children  who  will  furnish  the  criminals  and  paupers 
of  the  next  generation,  can  be  recommended  Fletcher's  "That  Last 
Waif;  or,  Social  Quarantine;"  the  Reports  of  the  Golden  Gate 
Kindergarten  Association,  in  San  Francisco,  and  several  of  the  pa- 
pers in  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  American  Association  of  Charities 
and  Correction. 


' 


THE    LITERATURE    OF    HOME    MISSIONS.  545 

Beneath  all  the  many  forms  of  service,  the  protean  shapes  of  love, 
at  some  of  which  we  have  glanced,  there  is  one  great  underlying 
principle—  the  power  of  consecrated  personality.  "Give  to  him 
that  asketh  of  thee"  —  give  what?  Money?  We  have  thought  so, 
yet  more  and  more  the  breach  widens  between  the  Church  and  ' 
those  she  seeks  to  help.  Money  alone  is  powerless;  justice  alone 
falls  short.  After  we  have  given  money,  after  we  have  used  our 
influence,  our  social  or  political  power,  our  business  or  our  home- 
making  methods,  to  give  our  brethren  justice,  for  what  does  their 
need  cry  to  heaven  ?  One  of  our  best  and  wisest  has  told  us  :  "This 
is  the  largest  and  richest  education  of  a  human  nature  —  not  an  in- 
struction, not  a  commandment,  but  a  friend.  It  is  not  God's  law, 
it  is  not  God's  truth,  it  is  God  that  is  the  salvation  of  the  world." 
How  shall  they  meet  God,  how  shall  they  be  introduced  to  his 
friendship,  except  through  the  friendship  of  his  representatives? 
"A  friend  is  he  who  makes  us  do  what  we  can."  That  is  it.  Love's 
highest  office  is  to  bring  one's  brother  to  the  best  fulfillment  of  his 
possibilities.  The  life  is  more  than  meat,  and  the  bndv  than 
raiment.  To  fight  ignorance,  neglect,  and  injustice,  to  give  our 
brethren  their  rights,  that  must  be  done,  in  loyalty  to  the  Christ  \ve 
serve  ;  but  that  is  a  first  step  in  an  ever-ascending  path  ;  it  is  clearing 
the  way  for  love's  noblest  work  —  the  building  up  in  our  weaker 
brethren  of  true  manhood  and  womanhood  through  persona!  con- 
tact with  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  our  own  lives. 

We  all  know  something  of  the  contagion  of  death.  In  this  city. 
so  often  plague-smitten,  the  very  thought  is  living  and  real.  But 
have  we  thought  enough  of  the  contagion  of  life?  As  tire  is  kindled  TI-.<-  ron 
by  fire,  so  life  spreads  by  contact.  All  through  the  ages  hie  nas  , 
worked,  touching  and  transforming  dead  matter,  shaping  ana  vivify- 
ing the  seeds  of  new  worlds.  From  the  dawn  of  vegetable  i:fe  two 
laws  hold  sway:  only  lite  can  give  life;  life  can  give  liie  only  by 
contact.  Would  God  spread  this  great  object  lessen  be;  >re  u-  and 
enforce  it  in  endless  beatitics  and  marvels  to  leave  us  griping  in  the 
dark  after  the  spread  of  spiritual  liie:  Tirst  we  must  have  life. 
through  personal  contact  with  Him  who  came  that  we  might  'nave 
it  abundantly:  and  having  it,  we  must  follow  our  Master's  rule  ami 
give  alms  of  those  things  that  aiv  within.  What  life  touches  it  will 
lift  into  living  ways.  \  uu  may  dice! 

day  it  will  cease  to  exist  at  all;  but  life  cannot  be  conquered 
will  spread. 
22 


546  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

The  trouble  is  that  life  is  hindered  in  us.     One  of  the  greatest 

HAMMOND.  .  .  .  .  .  ...  . 

problems  of  the  age,  in  business,  in  science,  in  religion,  is  the  util- 
ization of  waste  energy.  For  countless  ages  the  waters  of  Niag- 
ara have  sent  up  their  hymn  of  praise ;  but  it  was  only  yesterday 
that  men  saw  beneath  the  outer  glory  of  beauty  the  inner  glory  of 
Waste  en-  service,  and  made  a  way  for  the  wasted  power  to  do  its  work.  Think 
of  the  rush  of  joy  with  which  it  entered  the  longed-for  outlet,  lifting 
the  burdens  of  the  lowliest,  lighting  the  pathway  of  small  and  great, 
driving  the  wheels  of  commerce,  serving  in  the  kitchens  of  the  poor ! 
The  power  of  Christ  goes  to  waste  for  lack  of  connection  through 
us  with  the  world's  everyday  life.  We  are  so  afraid  of  adulterating 
what  we  call  the  pure  gospel  that  we  keep  it  locked  up  in  our 
churches  for  Sunday  use.  There  is  nothing  foreign  to  the  pure  gos- 
pel but  sin,  and  sin  it  must  touch  to  destroy.  If  we  lack  power,  it 
is  because  we  waste  power.  We  need  to  turn  it  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. We  want  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  business  world,  between 
employer  and  employed,  in  social  life,  in  home  life,  in  the  making 
and  administering  of  our  laws.  When  life  touches  these  things,  not 
spasmodically,  but  seven  days  in  the  week,  life  will  transform  these 
things,  and  we  shall  hear  no  more  of  the  separation  between  rich 
and  poor,  for  we  shall  all  be  one  in  Christ  Jesus. 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  DEVOTIONAL  SERVICE  or 

THE  LAST  DAY  OK  THE  CONFERENCE 

i-;v  MRS.  F.  HOWARD  TAYLOR. 


SACRIFICE  FOR  JESL'S'S   SAKE. 

MRS.    HOWARD    TAYLOR. 

"Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  everv  man  also 
on  the  things  of  others. 

Let  tin's  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus  : 
[Notice  the  sevenfold  descent.] 

Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  not  equality  wit;*,  God 
a  thing  to  be  grasped, 

But  emptied  Himself, 

And  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant, 

And  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  : 

And  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  lie  humbled  Himself.       chnst. 

And  became  obedient  unto  death, 

Even  the  death  of  the  cross."     (  Phil.  ii.  4-8.) 

The  mind  of  Christ,  in  view  of  the  need  of  a  perishing  world. 

"He  emptied  Himself;"  kept  back  nothing. 

Let  this  mind  be  in  you.  It  is  not  in  us  by  nature.  Xaturalr. . 
we  look  only  at  our  own  things.  It  is  a  mind  that  we  may  have. 
Ir  is  a  mind  that  we  are  commanded  to  possess. 

See  this  mind  in  the  apostle  Paul:  Phil.  iii.  7-10. 

The  cross  is  the  only  way.  So  for  God  himself;  ,-u  fur  t:.-.  if 
we  would  have  fellowship  with  C!rri-t  in  his  redeeming  work,  we 
must  have  fellowship  with  him  also  in  his  self-em; 'tying  and  suf- 
ferings. 

Xotice  :  "He  emptied  himself"  a  voluntary  act. 

We  have  reached  a  high-water  mark  in  our  C"iiference.  G- >d 
grant  there  mav  be  no  ebb  tide.  \\  e  have  entered  int.)  deeper 
jov  and  fuller  blessing  because  we  have  begun  t<>  sacrifice  a  little. 
The  collection  last  Sunday  night  i  fifty  thousand  dollars'  repre- 
sents, 1  know  it,  not  a  little  real  devotion  and  sacrifice  for  Jesus'- 
sake. 

It  has  been  a  great  thing,  and  we  are  tilled  with  thankir.hu -- 


,  .....  .    .  ...  W» 

much  more  than  this.        hear  with  me  a  moment  n  1  say  a  great    gtor 
danger  lies  ahead  of  us  just  here.      If  we  rest  on  our  oars,  i:  we 
glory  in  our  achievement,  all  poucr  an<i   Messing  \ 
there  will  come,  must  come,  a  reaction  which  will  !eavi 


55O  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

AYLOR.     off  than  jf  we  had  never  gathered  together  in  this  Conference  at 

all. 

Humbly  and  prayerfully,  let  the  language  of  our  hearts  be  not, 
"See  what  we  have  accomplished;"  but  ''Lord,  what  more  Is 
there  that  we  can  do?"  Having  done  all,  we  are  still  unprofitable 
servants,  so  far  behind  our  Master's  great  example.  He  empti-ed 
himself,  kept  nothing  back;  we  have  scarcely  yet  begun  to  learn 
the  meaning  of  sacrifice. 

From  this  solemn  and  sacred  season  we  go  back  to  our  homes 
and  our  Churches  to  carry  the  inspiration,  not  to  glorify  the 
great  Southern  Methodist  denomination,  but  to  spread  the  con- 
tagious joy  of  sacrifice,  the  enthusiasm  to  do,  to  suffer  anything, 
to  go  anywhere,  everywhere,  for  Jesus's  sake. 

I.  Giving  One's  Self. — More  than  thirteen  years  ago,  w-hen  I 
first  left  home  for  China,  there  came  to  me  the  joy  of  suffering  for 
Jesus's  sake  as  never  before.     It  was  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  as  the 
great  steamer  was  moving  out  to  sea  and  the  shores  of  Europe 

g!  were  fading  from  one's  sight.  I  had  never  left  home  before ;  had 
never  before  been  parted  from  my  mother,  not  even  to  go  to 
school ;  so  the  experience  was  overwhelming.  The  first  home 
letters  had  reached  us  in  Naples,  and  as  I  stood  alone  upon  the 
deck  of  the  great  ship  I  held  them  to  my  heart ;  letters  from 
father  and  mother,  and  each  one  unspeakably  precious.  As  the 
ship  glided  out  of  the  harbor  and  the  blue  water  widened  between 
us  and  the  shore,  I  felt  as  if  all  the  ties  to  the  old  home  life  were 
breaking  one  by  one.  Suddenly  a  sailor's  voice  rang  out  across 
the  steamer  from  the  prow:  "All's  clear  now,  sir;  all's  clear!" 
The  captain  on  the  bridge  responded  :  "Full  steam  ahead  !"  Look- 
ing away  into  that  far  blue  sky,  my  heart  took  up  the  sailor's 
words,  and  said  :  "All's  clear  now,  Lord  ;  all's  clear !"  And  in  that 
moment  it  seemed  to  me  almost  as  if  heaven  itself  were  opened; 
there  came  such  a  sense  of  the  personal  presence  of  Christ,  who 
was  accepting  that  sacrifice,  and  of  the  personal  love  of  Christ 

dear."  flowing  into  my  heart,  that  I  can  never  forget  it.  One  only  be- 
gins to  learn  what  he  can  be  when  all  others  are  given  up  for  His 
sake. 

II.  Girmg  One's  Possessions. — What  a  wonderful  thing  it  is  that 
we  can  give  to  Jesus.     The  joy  of  sacrifice  for  his  sake  is  not  con- 
fined to  those  of  us  in   Christian  lands  who  have  Ions:  known 

o 

and  loved  him.     Far  away  among  the  heathen  there  are  hearts 
that  throb  in  response  to  his  precious  name.     Let  me  illustrate 


SACRIFICE    FOR    JESUS  S    SAKK.  551 

by  an  instance  that  comes  to  my  mind  in  connection  with  dear    N5"-  '*"•••" 
pastor  Hsi,  whose  life  I  am  now  writing. 

He  was  a  native  of  Northern  China  who  did  a  womleriul  work 
for  God  in  the  province  of  Shan-si.  He  opened  numbers  of  sta- 
tions where  he  preached  the  gospel  and  was  instrumental  in 
winning  hundreds  of  souls  to  Christ.  At  one  time  his  mind  wa.- 
cleeplv  exercised  about  the  citv  of  Hoh-chau.  It  was  an  imnor- 

r  -  -  A  wife  an- 

tant  place,  where  there  had  never  been  a  missionary,  and  he    swei»  her  bu«- 

greatly  wished  to  open  an  opium  refuge  there  as  a  center  fur 

gospel  preaching.     Day  by  day  at   family  worship  in  hi-  own 

home  he  prayed  about  the  matter,  asking  that  God  in  -oine  wav 

would  open  Hoh-chau  to  the  gospel.     After  a  time,  hi-  wife,  who 

was  also  an  earnest  Christian,  said  to  him  :  "Don't  \oti  think  \oti 

have  prayed  long  enough?     Would  it  not  be  well  now  to  do  -»nK- 

thing  in  the  matter?" 

"If  I  only  could,"  he  responded  ;  "but  it  would  take  a  •  •'•ik-Mcr- 
able  sum  of  money  to  send  a  man  to  Hoh-chau,  and  I  have  n>>t  a 
cash  in  hand.  We  are  already  doing  as  much  as  we  are  able." 

Mrs.  Hsi,  being  a  sensible  little  woman,  said  no  more,  but  wen; 
away  to  consider  the  matter. 

The  next  morning  at  family  worship  her  husband  prayed  as 
usual  for  Hoh-chau,  asking  more  earnestly  than  ever  that  th: 
Lord  would  in  some  way  send  workers  there.  After  the  servic;-, 
Mrs.  Hsi  came  up,  and  laid  on  the  table  beside  which  her  husband 
was  standing  a  little  package  wrapped  in  a  colored  handkerchie'. 
''This,"  she  said,  "is  in  answer  to  your  prayers." 

Surprised  and  interested,  the  good  pastor  untied  thr  hand!- 
chief  and  opened  the  parcel,      ft  contained  all  Mrs.  H-i'-  jewelry, 
her  gold  and  silver  earrings,  hair  ornament.-,  bracelets,  and  oti:< 
trinkets  which  she  had  gathered  up  and  brought  a-,  an  "tKTing  !• 
the  Lord.      When  he  saw  it.  and  realixed  how  :, 
meant  to  a  woman  in  her  position.  tear<  came  mt< 
eyes,  and  he  said  :  ".I  Jut  surely  you  cannot  mean  to 

"Yes."  she  said,  "take  them  and  sell  them.      I  can  «'.< 
these  ;  let  Hoh-chau  have  the  gospel." 

To  a  Chinese  woman  Her  jewelry  is  mo-t  preci 
earrings  and  hair  ornaments   which   torni    her   i 

place  of  engagement  and  wedding  rings  with  us.  c  .  fw. 

Hsi  meant  it  when  she  said:  "1  can  do  without  these: 
•.Miati  have  the  gospel."     That  city  was  opened  a-  a  nv.- 
tion,  and  a  Christian  Church  ex;sts  there  to-day. 


A 


552 


GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


MRS.    TAYLOR. 


Susie  Parker. 


"  INothing  too 
precious  for 
Jesus." 


cities  that  have  never  had  a  missioanry  this  might  be  true,  if 
only  we  would  gather  up  the  things  that  we  could  do  without, 
and  let  these  needy  places  have  the  gospel. 

III.  Giving  One's  Children. — But  there  is  something  harder  than 
giving  one's  self  or  one's  possessions.  The  most  difficult  of  all 
is  to  give  one's  children ;  dearer  than  life  itself,  or  anything  else 
that  life  contains.  A  beautiful  instance  comes  to  my  mind  to-day 
of  the  joy  that  springs  from  this  supreme  sacrifice. 

In  the  State  of  New  York,  a  few  years  ago,  a  dear  girl  named 
Susie  Parker  heard  the  call  of  God  to  give  herself  to  missionary 
work  in  China.  She  was  the  specially  beloved  child  of  her  father's 
heart,  and  it  was  only  after  a  tremendous  struggle  that  he  could 
bring  himself  to  consent  to  her  becoming  a  missionary.  She 
went  to  China  with  my  dear  father-in-law,  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor, 
who  was  then  on  his  way  through  this  country;  and  at  a  farewell 
•neeting  held  in  the  church  of  which  Mr.  Parker  was  a  member, 
a  touching  incident  occurred.  Mr.  Parker,  having  been  asked  to 
come  on  the  platform  and  say  a  few  words  in  connection  with  his 
daughter's  leaving  for  China,  reminded  the  people  of  what  Susie 
had  always  been  to  him.  He  said  that  from  her  earliest  years 
she  had  never  brought  her  parents  anything  but  joy  and  satis- 
faction, and  told  them  how  in  everything  she  had  been  his  right 
hand  and  his  heart's  delight. 

"And  now,"  he  added  very  simply,  ''Susie  is  going  to  China; 
and  all  I  can  say  is  that  I  have  nothing  too  precious  for  my  Jesus.'' 

\\  ith  such  a  father's  benediction  the  dear  girl  went  out,  and 
her  life  was  singularly  bright  and  useful  during  the  little  while 
that  she  was  spared  in  China.  Her  teacher,  a  Confucianist  gen- 
tleman, was  led  to  Christ  through  her  prayers  and  efforts  ;  and 
many  others  first  heard  of  Jesus  from  her  lips.  But  one  summer, 
typhoid  fever  laid  her  low,  and  in  a  very  little  while  she  was 
called  into  the  Master's  presence.  The  news  went  home  across 
the  sea  to  the  loved  ones  she  had  left  behind.  In  reply  to  a  letter 
of  deepest  sympathy  from  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor,  that  dear  father 
wrote  :  "In  the  midst  of  my  desolation,  all  I  can  say  is  still  the 
same — I  have  nothing  too  precious  for  my  Jesus." 

He  touched  in  his  sorrow  a  joy  too  deep  for  words,  too  deep 
fur  comprehension,  a  joy  that  to  ail  eternity  will  grow  only  more 
wonderful  and  precious  :  the  joy  of  having  something  so  precious 
to  give  to  Jesus. 


SACRIFICE    FOR   JESTS  S    SAKE.  553 

Sec  Phil.  ii.  5-8 :  Jesus  had  nothing  too  precious  to  sacrifice  for   M"s-  TAM.O*. 
our  sakes. 

See  Phil.  iii.  7-10  :  We  have  nothing  too  precious  for  Jesus. 

O,  beloved  friends,  \ve  talk  sometimes  about  sacrifice  and  suf- 
fering in  the  service  of  Christ  as  if  it  were  a  heavy  cross,  rather 
than  the  highest  privilege.  How  is  it  we  are  so  blind  and  slow  of 
heart?  Do  you  not  see  it?  How  can  1  put  it  into  words?  O, 
do  you  not  see  that  life  has  no  higher  honor,  eternity  itself  can 
bring  no  greater  privilege,  than  the  honor,  the  privilege  of  suf- 

.  .  Only  oi  earth 

fering  for  Jesus's  sake?     To  all  eternity  we  shall  be  able  to  scrvj   car.  v.-.-  knv* 
him  far  better  than  we  can  down  here,  with  sinless  heart?  and    ' 

s  •-•'•.  n  r.  ^ 

perfect  powers;  but  shall  we  ever  again  have  the  opportu- 
nity of  suffering  for  his  sake?  When  God  has  wiped  all  tear- 
away,  and  sin  and  death  are  no  more,  shall  we  ever  be  able  to  be 
lonely  again  for  Jesus  ;  to  endure  hardship,  to  face  perils,  to  toil. 
to  weep,  to  lay  clown  life  itself,  as  he  did  for  us?  This  little  life 
alone  can  bring  us  that  high  privilege.  Forever  and  forever  he 
offers  us  the  fellowship  of  his  joy,  a  share  in  his  glory,  a  place 
upon  his  throne;  but  there  is  something  deeper  in  the  heart  of 
Christ  than  that.  I  am  so  glad  that  he  does  not  withhold  from  u- 
that  which  must  ever  be  the  deepest  thing  in  his  heart — the  fello\\ 
ship  of  his  cross,  of  his  tears,  of  his  death  for  the  life  of  the  worl*' 
And  so  we  come  to  the  end  of  our  Conference,  and  scatter  to 
our  homes  again;  not  feeling  that  we  have  in  any  measure  at- 
tained; but  more  than  ever  eager  to  press  forward:  ambiti  u> 
fully  to  "apprehend  that  for  which  we  also  have  been  appreheivu 
of  Christ."  (Phil.  iii.  12.) 


IV. 

APPENDIX. 


I.  THE  EXHIBIT. 
II.   CHARTS. 

III.  STATISTICAL  TABLES. 

IV.  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

V.  LISTS  OF  COMMITTEES  AND  MIS- 
SIONARY DIRECTORY. 

VI.  INDEX. 


THE  MISSIONARY  EXHIBIT. 

MRS.    P.    L.    COBB. 

THE  fact  that  concrete  illustrations  help  to  deepen  known  truths 
was  shown  by  the  constantly  growing  interest  of  the  crowds  i-i 
people  who  daily  visited  the  Exhibit  at  the  General  Missionary 
Conference.  From  day  to  day  there  was  never  lacking  an  appre- 
ciative group  of  listeners  or  observers  of  all  that  the  Exhibit 
afforded. 

This  had  been  expected  and  systematically  planned  for.     One 
who  is  a  connoisseur  of  such  exhibits  said  that  this  one  excelled 
in  twt>  particulars  :  the  just  proportion  given  to  the  different  de- 
partments, and  the  ready  corps  of  helpers  at  each  table.     Around 
the  wall  of  one  of  the  large  rooms,  behind  a  railing,  were  table- 
covered  with  curios,  costumes,  and  implements  from  each  of  our 
foreign  fields,  and  draped  with  beautiful  ancient  embroideries    >r 
fantastic  scrolls.     China  occupied  three  tables,  which  were  gra- 
ciously presided  over  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  \V.  II.  Park,  Rev.  B.  A. 
Lucas,  and  Mr.  Chow,  who  were  always  ready  to  explain  arv 
article  or  answer  all  questions.     Japan  had  three  tables  of  . 
jects  of  worship,  musical  instruments,  and  curios,  at  which  }• 
M.  I.  Lambuth,  Mr.  K.  Ashida.  and  Rev.  \V.  A.  WiN-m  In- 
terested conversations  with  visitors:  Korean  curiosities  ;md  co-- 
tumes  were  shown  from  the  tables  by  Mi.-s  Annie  Leo  1  ):c.-\s,  " 
New  Orleans^  Brazil's  table  held  beautiful  laces,  crucitixe 
etc.,  which  were  displaced  by  Miss  Willie  Bowman  and 
L.  Cobb  ;  Mexico  had  a  rare  collection  ,,i  autiqu 
of  worship,  which  Rev.  X.  K.  Joyner.  Rev.  B.  (j.  M. 
G.  B.  \Yinton  explained:  Cuba  attract! 
D.  \V.  Carter  and   Rev.  II.  \Y.    Baker. 
North  American  Indians  was  represented 
Methvin,  who  have  so  faithfully  labored 
Butler  is  due  much  of  the  artistic  a: 
the  readiness  to  explain  them  with  \vi 

The  exhibitors  sought  not  only  t. 
visitors,  but  to  impress  some  truth  < 


55$  GENERAL    MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

dom  for  the  first  time  in  its  hopeless  darkness  and  its  inability  to 
satisfy  the  longings  of  the  human  heart. 

In  the  second  large  room  was  the  literature  exhibit,  directed 
by  Mr.  W.  C.  Everett  and  Mr.  Mathis,  of  the  Dallas  Branch  Pub- 
lishing House.  For  months  men  and  women  of  ability  in  the 
Church  had  been  collecting  and  studying  books  on  all  phases  of 
missionary  wrork  to  form  a  catalogue  of  missionary  books.  Mr. 
.-.-.k  Exhibit.  Everett  had  been  able  to  secure  copies  of  these  for  the  Exhibit, 
and  with  these  and  his  own  material  presented  a  magnificent 
showing  of  the  literature  of  missions.  It  was  a  real  pleasure, 
in  answer  to  the  oft-expressed  desire,  ''I  wish  I  knew  just  what 
book  to  get  on  this  subject,"  to  be  able  to  show  the  inquirer  the 
topical  catalogue,  or,  better  still,  put  into  his  hand  a  copy  of  the 
book,  that  he  might  examine  and  order  accordingly.  Large 
numbers  of  orders  are  now  being  filled  by  the  Publishing  House 
f"or  books  for  which  there  had  formerly  been  little  demand.  If 
the  Exhibit  or  the  whole  Conference  should  do  no  more  than 
make  people  desire  and  read  good  literature  on  the  subject  of 
missions,  it  will  have  done  untold  good. 

On  one  side  of  this  room  was  a  large  table  containing  speci- 
mens of  the  publications  of  the  leading  Mission  Boards  of  the 
world.  To  the  student  of  comparative  methods  and  fields  this 
collection  afforded  a  rare  opportunity  for  study  and  for  obtain- 
ing many  suggestions  for  further  development  in  his  own  lines. 
i  his  room  also  held  a  large  exhibit  of  the  American  Bible  Socie- 
ty's work  in  various  translations  and  editions;  a  fine  set  of  pic- 
tures of  the  Meharry  Medical  College,  by  Dr.  G.  W.  Hubbard,  of 
Nashville;  pictures  of  all  our  foreign  churches  builtjby  the  Board 
of  Church  Extension ;  the  display  from  the  Scarritt  Bible  and 
Training  School,  under  Miss  Alary  D.  Jones  ;  of  the  Era  and 
AVrk-a1  of  Missions,  by  Mr.  O.  W.  Patton ;  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement,  by  Rev.  Fennell  P.  Turner;  publications  of  the  Wom- 

s  Home  Mission  Society  and  the  Woman's  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,  directed  by  Miss  Mary  Werlein,  of  our  Church. 

A  third  feature  of  the  Exhibit  was  the  collection  of  maps  and 
charts  on  the  walls  of  the  two  rooms.  There  were  samples  of 
maps  published  by  the  leading  Boards  of  the  country  ;  detail  maps 
of  portions  of  countries,  showing  our  Church's  stations  ;  a  map 
bowing  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the  Annual  Conferences, 
with  those  Conferences  and  districts  that  paid  the  missionary 


THE    MISSIONARY    EXHIBIT.  559 

assessments  in  full  last  year  indicated  by  a  star;  a  map  showing  '  - 
the  work  of  the  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society,  dented  with 
stars  showing  the  bright  spots  where  parsonage-.,  had  been  helped 
or  built;  a  map  of  the  world  showing  where  the  V.  M.  C.  A.  for- 
eign secretaries  are  located:  and,  most  striking  ,,f  all,  a  world 
map  showing  by  yellow  and  black  ribbons,  extruding  from  Xash- 
ville  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  where  the  missionaries  that  have 
gone  out  from  Wesley  Hall  are  now  at  work  under  God's  guid- 
ance and  the  inspiration  of  their  Alnia  Mater.  One  of  the  stu- 
dents, Rev.  W.  O.  Sadler,  was  always  present  to  >how  this  ana 
the  pictures  of  the  missionaries. 

On  the  wall  hung  a  large  collection  of  missionary  charts,  pre- 
pared expressly  for  this  Conference.  They  were  accurately  exe- 
cuted by  a  skilled  draughtsman — .Mr.  John  S.  i  hitler,  son  of  Mr.-. 
F.  A.  Butler — on  thick  paper,  size  20x44  inches,  tinted  in  bright  c.m» 
colors  to  bring  out  the  distinction  and  comparisons.  One 
group  showed  a  comparison  of  needs  in  the  home  and  for- 
eign lands:  one — "a  monument  to  our  indifference"- --howed 
the  number  of  members  in  different  Churches  required  \»  sup- 
port one  missionary;  one  gave  a  comparison  of  the  M.  K. 
Church,  South,  with  the  Moravians,  another,  the  am-nur  w-.- 
should  pay  if  all  our  members  gave  a  tenth.  The  amounts  given 
by  our  membership  by  decades  since  1846;  the  growth  « -f  the  : 
eign  membership  ;  growth  of  our  Sunday  school-;  the  work  »i  the 
American  Bible  Society,  of  the  Scarritt 
School.  Meharry  Medical  College.  World'. 
Federation,  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary 
Home  Mission  Societv;  the  area  contr"lle 
ments  ;  progre-  -  »\  the  world's  evangeli/ati'  in.  etc..  were 
ally  displayed.  Those  who  studied  these  figures  and 
received  a  clearer  idea  than  ever  before  <  •'.  the  neces<it\ 
er  zeal. 

These  charts  are  to  be  reproduced  ani 
clay  schools,  missionary  societies,  and 
price.     Their  reproduction  will  be  of  tl> 
nal.  on  blue  print  paper  or  on  white 
more  forceful  way  can  be  f"iind  to  impre 
than  to  keep  these  charts  before  the  e\ 


These  charts  have  been  reproduced  by  the  blue  print  process  and  can 
be  had  at  the  following  prices,  the  uniform  size  being  44x29  inches: 
Single  chart,  blue  and  white,  75  cents. 
Set  of  ten,  blue  and  white,  $5. 
Single  chart,  tinted,  $i. 
Set  of  ten,  tinted,  $7.50. 
The  set  of  ten  charts  contains  numbers  I.-X. 

Send  all  orders  to  G.  \V.  Cain,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


PROGRESS      01       Tin:      WORLDS 


EVANGELIZATION. 


1  son. 


The    \\liitc    in    circk-    ~|K.\\^    pn  p,  .1  1 1, 
ot    jTnlc--i  MI;    (    li  i  i-t  i.i  n~-. 


s. MIS.  r-!^ 
If  Ciir:>ti:in- 
Cliri^t:'  coul 


WHITE     WEDGE     SHOWS 


Proportion     of     Native     Communicants     to 


Unconverted      Heathendom. 


Communicants . 

Ad  hetvnts 

Heathen. . 


1,317,000 

4, 414. COO 

'.,033,000,000 


III. 


INCREASE 

01 

CHRISTIANITY 

IN 
CHINA 


l!MMl 


-."DO       J,>.,M5 


vet  there  remai 


IV. 

RELATIVE  SIZE   OF   HOME  AND 
FOREIGN   PARISHES. 

The  large  circle  represents  200,000  people 
to  each  ordained  missionary.  The  small 
white  center  represents  one-fifteen  hun- 
dredth converted  (133  persons). 


The  small  circle  represents  740  persons 
t<»  each  ordained  home  minister,  and  its 
white  center  the  one-fifth  converted. 


at   h'liin  u   of   740  c 

"  of  joo.nc 

tii  rultiv; 


•  ft'ered   to    foreign   mission 
•rs    at     home.     A    minister 
•  -I  people:   a  minister  abroad 
o  heathen.     We  could  send  in  the 
the   foreign   field  and  not  suffer 


A   JIOXUMI-XT   TO   01  R    IXDI 1  1 


No.    of    Church    m>:mK-i",    t<> 
Mipport    one    .MU>ion.ir\ 


VI. 


OUR    GIVING     OF    MONEY. 


Comparison   of   Expenditures   in  U.   S. 


$5,000,000,  FOR 
FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 


100,000,000, 
CHURCH   WORK. 


400,000,000, 


AMUSEMENTS. 


700,0()O,000, 
JEWELRY    ,V    PLATE 


800,000,000, 
FOR    TOHACCO. 


$1,400,000,000  FOR  LIQUOR. 


i.uer  offerings  for   foreign  missions  are  due  to  in- 
if   money    in    the    United    States,    is    shown   in   this 
ered   freely  to   God,  this 
-hf!\v;ni;  would  In-  different.     \\ '<• 


are  not  too  poor  to  send  the  gospel. 


VII. 


JUST  Tin-:  in  in:. 


IiUOinc   ol    mcmhcrshjp    M.    I  .    (  h.   s. 


(at    55  cts.    a   day)         S-MiS. 


litll 


"tenth"  as  ;>.  ii!:;;;in;:;:i  >  '"i  n 
States  is  <  >n:r:;il!y  IT;"  >rtetl  a: 
SouthtTii  Mr!hiuii-t>  l'.;i-,-c  ;ir 
tithe,  a  tmtli  nf  our  iiu-i  •:!:•.•  ;• 
stead  <>f  S;. ooo. ooo  for  a'l  i  "r 


OUR   INCREASING   INTEREST. 

Church    Membership    and     Receipts    for    Home    and 
Foreign    Missions    in    M.    E.    Church,    South. 


1S50. 


ISCiO. 


$270,307. 
520. 256. 


Total    for   Decade,   SI 


1870. 


INS!). 


$553,07 1./ 


$1,117,103. 


1,181,81)8   Church    Members. 


tal    of    over   $5.000.000    for    Church    work    the    M.    E. 

Church.    :-  -hown    a    great    increase.     The    Mocks    in    the    chart 

-iii.u-  tlie  :  ;  ;~  for  each  decade  from   iS;o  for  home  and  foreign 

mission>,    .  'arent    and    \\'oman'<    Iloarrls.     This    increase    is 

:p"'in  $_>7o..so7  j  >ur  years.  1840-50.  to  $5.3,^7.844  g'i\'en  for  foreign 

The   liroken    line    >ho\\>    the    g    >\vth    of    Church 

"•r-  <\\\rr.  .  •-  time,  and  can  l>e  estimated  :u  each  decade  hy 

d  h'.ack   horizontal   -pace-,  each   space   indicating 


ARK   FOK1.IGN    MISSIONS    A    SCCCKSS    > 

28   Years   Growth   in    the    Kurcij-n 
Missions   of    the    .M.    K.    Church    South. 


~'i  -NAini: 

C0.113HMCAMS 
IN    IS73. 


:    W 


IN    I.S.S7 


NAT1  VI-.    CO  V,  Ml'N  !C  \\  |  ^    I  \ 


M.   E.   CHURCH   SOUTH 

COMPARED  WITH   MORAVIANS 

ON    FOREIGN    MISSIONS    IX    1HOO. 

Moravians. 

M.   E.   C.   S. 
24  cts.  per  member. 


Amt.   31.   E.   C.   S.   rays 

$384,000. 


Missionaries 

of   31.    E.    C.    S. 

190. 

D 


Amt.    31.    E.    C.    S. 

\\ould    pay    at 

$2.10    per    Mem. 

S3, 09  7, 500. 


Xo.  if  1  in  66 
members  was 
a  missionary 

as    in 

Moravians. 
22.34.iS. 


V-  unary   spirit   of  the  Moravian   Church  as  a  criterion, 

an  mea  possibilities  <<i  our  own  Churcli.  were  we  to  show  the 

rini^s    to    foreign    missions    average    24    cents    per 
stage   stamp   a   month.     The   Moravians   give   $2.10 
Our  offering^  amount  to  $384.000.      If  we  gave  at 
Moravian-,  we    -hould   have   $3.0(^7.500   for    foreign 
far  beneath  the  tithe.)     The  Moravian  Church 
f  its  members  on  the  foreign   field.      If  we  of- 


•-arne    zi-a!  ' 

•lu-nilxT   ;  p 

per  mcmbi 
tb.i'    -ame    rau-    a~    th 
missions.     (Even  tin- 
ha-  one  rait  of  everv  6f' 


XI. 


GROWTH         IN        sr.NDAV        SCHOOLS 
M.      E.      Cli.      South. 


Growth   in   School.- 


INTO  1SSO 


Growth    in    Member^. 


1J. 


i  .y  o  iin|>  iratu  i-  ;in-;t  -.  t ;; 
ar-  i-  .-liown.  'l'li>  ii.i-  l-cc 
th;i:  tlif  i'tY"n-  arc  \\  1 11  liirt- 
-hi'iu^  tin-  increnso  «i  <(.-!]""! 
Tlu-  !"\VIT  r.iu  L'-\C-  ,!  ur. ",' 
M=;.I  >u  in  ii)<«' 


XII. 


OCCUPATION     OF     THE      2000 


COLLEGE      BRED     NEGROES. 


TEACHERS. 


S3   PER    CENT. 


CLERGYMEN. 


17   PER   CENT. 


PHYSICIANS. 


G   PER   CENT 


STUDENTS. 


fi   PER   CENT. 


GOVT.    SERVICE. 


4    PER   CENT. 


BUSINESS. 


4   PER   CENT 


1  AR.MERS  &   ARTISANS.       3    PER    CENT. 


EDITORS.    CLERKS,    ETC.     2    PER    CENT. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


o    PER    CENT. 


XIII. 


THE   AMI-RICAN    'MIJLI-    S()C||.|  y 

OK(,AM/i;i)    INK,. 
TRANSLATIONS    |\     hlu    To\<,i   | 


VOLl'MLS    ISSl  i:i). 


ivi:<:i;n>  i  s. 


I  roin       !M(. 
To  1SJ.S 


ntYcTiiigs  nnil  donations  !r"i:i  ; 
t»  greatly  iiuTea^e  the  c:r.:i:'.i 
From  iSi'i  t"  iS_'5  there  \vt-re 
veive'l  fur  the  w.'rk;  :r«m  iS_\: 
ceipts;  ir.un  1X5.'  !•>  iS;;.  jvj. 
iS;;  to  [QOO,  .;:.i-M."in  v.-lunn 
the  laxt  period  do  not  t'.;na!  tli 


XIV. 

RELATIVE     NEEDS 
MEDICAL     MISSIONS 

To  Every  2,500,000  People  iu  Heafhen 
Lands,  One  Medical  Missionary.  To  Same 
Number  in  United  States,  4000  Physicians. 


F.ach    Jot    represents    1O    Physicians. 


That  there  is  need  for  all  talents  and  abilities  on  the  foreign  field  is 
illustrated  by  the  need  for  physicians  and  medical  missionaries  there. 
While  there  art'  4.000  physicians  to  minister  to  2.500.000  people  in  the 
I'nited  State-,  there  is  but  one  available  to  the  same  number  of  heathen 
\\hnse  need-  arc  greater  in  proportion  to  their  ignorance  of  the  right 
principle-  of  living  and  caring  for  themselves.  There  are  openings  for 
all  (iod-uMven  talent-  on  the  field. 


1810. 


18  tO 


1850 


INTO 


INCREASE      01       RECEIPTS      OI       Tin: 
FOREIGN      MISSIONARY      SOCIETIES 
OF      THE      I.      S. 

i 

$20,021.      The    Yearly    Average 

$74,571. 


$288,583 


\  $842,728. 


'l.Mi. ;..?.?.{.  Ycarl 
17.7S  i.ditn.  (  Imr. 


in    iSiii-jo  tn  54. Si ;,;. _?_;_?  ••• 


XVI. 


GROWTH   OP   POPULATION 
AND  PROTESTANTISM   IN   U.   S. 


J850 


1850. 

Protestants  3,529,988 

Pop.   in   U.    S.   23,191,000. 

Adherents  8,824,970. 


1 8l>0 


17,7S'i,  i-70   Protestuu 


;  7 'I  ,OOO,O(>0    population   in    U.    S. 
'!'l.'Mil,l!»2    Adherents. 


XVII. 


AREAS     GOVERNED     BY     DIFFERENT 


RELIGIONS. 


1600.  Total  inhabited  Area  19100000  Sq.M 


1893. 


1741790O.     11117KM).   675J7UU.  ^7^2. ?«K>. 


\\llllc   III    I''OO   only    7    p.T    rr:i!    1. 1 


i;oi   nii-an  t p.ai   tiic  Munu  atii  >:i-  •• 


573 


GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 


Og 

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TH  TH  OS  CO  0»  00  »O        SO  W        TH  oo 

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T-H  rH  xr>  -^t1  x  ^t1 

£-  CT 

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STATISTICS. 


579 


_ 

'Jl 

o 

' 

- 

— 

_ 


TOTAL  STATISTICS  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE 
M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

Missionaries 194 

Teachers  and  helpers 138 

Bible  women 71 

Day  schools 76 

Pupils 2,099 

Boarding  schools 24 

Pupils 1,196 

Hospitals  and  dispensaries ' 6 

Patients  treated 13,132 

Total  value  of  mission  property $897,807.82 


STATISTICS. 


581 


STATISTICS  FRO 
Receipts  for  connectional  work  
Receipts  for  local  work  
Total  receipts  
Number  of  parsonages  built  and  aided  
Money  donated  to  parsonages  
Money  loaned  to  parsonages  
Value  of  supplies  distributed  (outside  of  receipts  above 

Number  of  members  
Subscribers  to  Our  Homes  

Buildings  owned  
Value  
Number  of  City  Mission  Boards  
Number  of  missionaries  employed  by  City  Boards.  .  .  . 
Number  of  auxiliaries  

',%     <?l^l 

CD           i—  ~  -  —  —  •     x    7 

•  2      =  ~  =  ^-  *.  5 
5      •  ^sTSTo  2. 

C   "   "1    —  *  *3    x 

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1C    CC    O            X    ~~<    t~ 

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tc  c  c  -J  —  ~   — 

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C/>     -7 

«• 

c  :-  f  -  ("c   f 

82  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

EVANGELISTIC, 

Statistics  of  the  Income,  Staff,  and  Evangelistic  Returns  of  Missionary  Societies, 


NATIONAL  OR  CONTINENTAL 
DIVISIONS. 


CLASS  I. 

Societies  directly  engaged 

in  conducting  foreign 

missions. 

United  States 

Canada  

England 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Wales 

Denmark 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Sweden 

Switzerland 

Australasia  and  Oceania.... 

Asia 

Africa 

West  Indies 


Total  for  Class  I. 


8  5,403,048 

352,743 

C.843,031 

1,280,684 

101,930 

40,729 

42,770 

28,860 

268,191 

1,430,151 

124,126 

158,328 

166,036 

34,337 

309,234 

97,569 

216.70: 

262,620 


249;     817,161,0924953    421 


FOREIGN  MISSIONARIES. 


1352 

69 

1747 

188 
32 
IT 
18 
10 
48 

731 
65 
49 
85 
15 
06 
48 

217 

166 


Physi- 
cians. 


203  1244  3450  3119  13.607  4029 


17 


1006 

69 

1407 

230 

25 

6 

3 


4,110  1575 


236 

5,136 

653 

112 

36 

32 

20 

123 

1,515 

81 

113 

187 

41 

313 

282 

34 


NATIVE  WORKERS. 


39 

1866 

52 
5 


15,013 

677 

25,980 

2,909 

39r 

493 

35 


300 
6,284 

220 
1,806 

217 

31 

4,771 

298 
4,400 
5,469 


-i 
1  s  « 


16,605 

716 

27,795 

3,026 

419 

500 

36 

8 

342 

6,464 

250 

1,884 

222 

31 

4,923 

313 

4,507 

5,574 


NATIONAL  OR  CONTINEN- 
TAL DIVISIONS. 


CLASS  I. 
Societies   directly    en- 
gaged in  conducting 
foreign  missions. 

United  States 

Canada 

England 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Wales '.'.'. 

Denmark 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Sweden  

Switzerland 

Australasia  and  Oceania 

Asia 

Africa 

West  Indies 


Ki3 
73 

mo 

243 
23 
1 

11 
3 


4 


6,291 

230 

12,158 

841 

93 

393 

10 


174 
903 

108 
18 

344 
46 


CHURCHES. 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL". 


4,107 
80 

4,744 

195 

21 

HO 


56J 
10 

204 

10 

8 

_;^ 

69 

62 


31,070 
985 

78,548   20,093 
4.171' 
652 
365 
54 
18 
388 
7,064 

'no 

4,545 
1.027 

151 
I,9i4 

183 
3,881 
6,326 


7,231 
402 

2,875 

437 

95 

410 


22 
26 

1.9-21 
103 
326 
744 


344,385 
12,731 

171.247 
26,257 
4.S16 
11,615 


300 


953 
1,394 

6N.241 

2,020 

26,988 

65,138 


CONTRI- 
BUTIONS. 


628,717 

1.377 

580.855 

206.240 

5,160 

5,100 

7. 


161,705 

40 

2,000 


182 

21,112 

3,888 

34.1,1  S 

182.912 


NATIVE 
CHRISTIANS. 


«- 


•3  Si  §  §  B 

~  -s  "5  S  6  < 


1,257,425 

32,925 

1.081,384 

91,667 

14.421 

16,561 

890 

076 


357,480 

32,667 

50,811 

2,630 

2,463 

162.332 

14.G-12 

202.984 

1,205.960 


STATISTICS. 


Combined  Totals  of  Class  I.  (Regular  Societies),  Class  II.  (Societies  Indirectly  Co-op* 
crating),  and  Class  III.  (Societies  Engaged  in  Specialized  Forms  of  Work., 


i 

_     . 

'•* 

i 

^ 

I'h 

v.l. 

*    '*•    '''•    i  »          ••  jl    •:  • 

g 

- 

™ 

•:in 

in 

-       !                                              ••  — 

NATIONAL  OE  CONTINENTAL 

~ 

§ 

5 

_i    v  ,  3       i  i       ;:;         'jr;**' 

DIVISIONS. 

f. 

*"*  ? 

•7 

11  .=  .'•'*  /  :              1  i  IT 

c  3 

a 

*-5          S..3            «,x.       -»£*•.-    j 

£ 

-   a 

1 

:: 

5!jl|;||!  ^s    1    IM]  =U 

= 

1  'S 

^ 

= 

= 

*• 

- 

c 

7. 

' 

j     !»      -        H          ;     -            •*: 

CLASS  I  

240 

sninov 

4<»^( 

4''1 

j 

CLASS  II  

1J227  731 

74 

CLASS  III  

102 

737.2'.I7 

3ti 

r.) 

l.'i 

1               1 

Total  for  the  world  

'418 

2S19,12fi,l  20 

Softi 

4S4 

21  S 

M7..|:iW7,»4.ai  1M.>'4  A,        Ti»<,.77J3« 

s 

j 

c 

5 

i  j     i    j-.j  ?  « 

NATIONAL  OR  CONTINEN- 

§ 

5 

•g 

0 

.5 

,      i  r  -  '  - 

TAL  DIVISIONS. 

a 

r 

= 

X. 

| 

•?           ;•  . 

M 

X! 

'- 

"c  ^ 

i 

J           I  ^             f            *\i  :  3 

t 

| 

X.  .i 

•i.              i.   -.                ^   '.          ^  •'.   »  *  3 

•g 

0 

r 

_  = 

r  j 

-                                          ~  ~            -5"i§§ 

,r 

M 

^  3 

3  -- 

-          (          -51                      -    -               5    -    "0     =    5-* 

£ 

•< 

c 

5- 

'• 

/.                    H                            •- 

CLASS  I  

25,"i8H 

10.993 

l,28'.l.29« 

S  -IS'.', 

14  '.in        Trtft.,     31S.T3-.M           4   -    A- 

CLASS  II      

14  r) 

541 

17 

2-">,661 

T 

H,        i  ;  "i         i.;r.i'> 

CLASS   III  

1'1'i 

120 

'i< 

78,           ••.,•1-4              '^••M                 li../.". 

Total  for  the  world.. 

V.71 

2';,247 

ll.(«H 

1.3I7.I-.-4 

St.l«U 

!.-v.o:iJ       77  !.•-•>    I1.M1.7--           t.lU.  .- 

WOMEN'S  SOCIETIES. 

(Special  summaries  representing  woman'."  share  in  the  vorM  total*  £•. •. .>n 


i  l 


NATIONAL  OR  CONTINENTAL 
DIVISIONS. 


:  H* 

•     4     • 


e  I 


CLASS  I 

CLASS  II 

CLASS  III 


1  If  the  11  tin 


I..  II..  mid  III.  If  K'U'"1  ti>  th«t  i.iiniS-r.  !!,••  K-M. 
auxiliary,  wi'.l  re».-h  W7.  but  a"  oih-r   U'.i  in  t'.»      C-T, 

Sln'rednciug  the  In-'-ni.- .if  Kuroi»-»;i  !•••!•  si-  '•    I's  I'-l  s-»--«  - 
at  »4.'.«',  tin-    I'nui-h.  N,..rw>-i»i!.  mid    S»    di-l; 
cent?,  thi-  Kiiiuiih  mirk  a:  W  c-::'-.  a-,  I  :h-  I'r-:.-"  •-«»•  »'  •' 
dollar. 


MEDICAL, 


STATISTICS  OF  HOSPITALS,  DISPENSARIES,  AND  PATIENTS 
TREATED  ANNUALLY. 


LOCATION. 

£ 

Vl 

S.  5 

S  "H. 

£ 

C,      X 

1  & 
2 

103 
4 
4 
9 

8 
10 
240 

a 

5 
a 

•B 

•3  3 
S  = 

«  ,£ 
& 

Total  Number  of 
TreatmelltH. 

Africa.          

40 
3 
1 
7 
9 
4 
1^4 

4.909 
191 

177,794 

441,239 

Alaska  

8,558 
21,018 
1,817 
9,324 
745,3" 

25.676 
52,296 
3,245 
15,636 
1,700.452 
17,524 
2,356,731 
66,703 
70,259 
53,090 
34,476 
16,693 
2,885 
223,281 
101.017 
26.975 
4.041 
91,812 
80,903 

Burma.                                                                    

840 
246 
393 
335°9 

Caned»  and  Labrador  

Ceylon  

China                            

Formosa.                       

2 
100 
7 
9 
3 
2 
1 
1 
10 

250 
16 
13 
9 
5 
4 
2 
20 
13 

632 
22,902 
701 
1,383 
329 
395 

97 

3,766 
997 
231 

"  1,167 
1,033 

4,948 
877,704 
27,098 
35,291 
19,349 
6,307 
6,338 
961 
87,056 
42.280 
14,654 
2,794 
32,932 
36,804 

India  .        

Japan  

Korea  

Madagascar  

Malaysia  

Mexico  

Oceania  

Palestine  

Persia..        ..   . 

Siam  and  Laos  

5 
3 
6 
7 

9 
5 
16 
10 

South  America  

Syria  .            

Turkey  

Proportionate  estimate  for  96  hospitals  and  147  dispensaries) 

355 

753 

73,741 
19,964 

2,158,349 
421,302 

5,383.934 
1,263,906 

6.647.840 

Total  

~ 

355 

03.705 

2.579.651 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

GENERAL. 

Enclycopedia  of  Missions.     By  Edwin  Munsell  Bliss.     $12. 
Short  History  of  Christian  Missions.    By  George  Smith.  LL.D..  F.k.G.S. 
75  cents. 

Moravian  Missions.     By  Augustus  C.  Thompson,  D.D.     Jj. 
Foreign  Missions.     By  Augustus  C.  Thompson.  D.I).     $1.75. 
Christian   Missions  and  Social  Progress.     By  Rev.  Janus  S.   Dennis 
D.D.     3  vols.     $7.50. 

Report  of  the  Centenary  Conference  on  the  Protestant  Missions  of  the 
World,  London,  1888.  By  Rev.  James  Johnston.  ?r 

Students'  Missionary  Appeal.  Official  report  of  the  Third  Interna- 
tional Convention  of  the  Students'  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 
Missions.  $1.50. 

Report  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  at  New  York.  IQOO.     $1.50. 
Students   and   the   Missionary    Problem.      Report    of   the    I.on<l»n    Con- 
ference.    $2. 

A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions.     By  Rev.  D.  L.  Leonard.     $1.50. 
A  Study  of  Christian  Missions.     By  W.  Newton  Clarke.     $i.j?. 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Protestant  Churches.     By  Stephen   I.    BaM 
win,  D.D.     $r. 

Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field.     By  Rev.  W.  P.  \VaMi.  D.D.     <i. 
Modem  Heroes  of  the  Mission  Field.     Hy  \V.  P.  \Val-h.  P  I  >.     5: 
Twelve  Pioneer  Missionaries.     By  Smith.     $-'.50. 

Hand  Book  of  Methodist  Missions     By   Rev.   I.  G.  John.   PP      I.'n 
$1.50.  . 

Child  Life  in  Our  Mission   Fields.     By   Pai-y  Lamlnith  nnd 
Ian.     $i. 

Missionary    Expansion    Since   the    Reformation.      By    Kr\     J 
ham,  M.A.     $1.25. 

Missionary  Addresses.     By  Bishop  Janu-  M.  ' 

Women  of  the  Orient.     By  Kev.  R"--  C.  Honglu.  -n.   P  P 

Modern   Missions  in  the   Fast.      By    Kr\.    F.dward 

$1.25. 

The    Students'    Challenge    to   the    Churches 
Cloth.     35  cents. 

Geography  and  Atlas  of  Prote-tam  M:S' 

The    Evangelization    of   the    \\'orld    in    Tl;: 
Mott.     $i. 

Strategic  Points  in  the  World's  Conquest 

A    New    Program    of    Missions      By    Luther    P. 

cents. 

Missionary    Methods,    or    the     Mis 
Adams.     75  cents. 


586  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

The  Foreign  Missionary  and  His  Work.  By  W.  G.  E.  Cunnyngham, 
D.D.  50  cents. 

The  Growth  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  By  Rev.  Sidney  L.  Gulick. 
$1.50. 

The  Expansion  of  Christian  Life.     Long.     $1.75. 

Addresses  on  Foreign  Missions.     Storrs.    $i. 

Two  Thousand  Years  of  Missions  before  Carey.     Barnes.    $1.50. 

The  Missionary  Manual.  By  Amos  R.  Wells.  i6mo.  Cloth. 
35  cents. 

Missionary  Spoke  of  the  Epworth  Wheel.  By  W.  W.  Cooper  and  F.  S. 
Brockman.  28  cents. 

MEDICAL  MISSIONS. 

The  Healing  of  the  Nations.     By  J.  Rutter  Williamson.     40  cents. 

John  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  M.D.     By  Mrs.  Mary  I.  Bryson.     $1.50. 

Medical  Missions :  Their  Place  and  Power.  By  John  Lowe,  F.R.C.S.E. 
$1.50. 

NORTH  AMERICA. 

By  Canoe  and  Dog  Train  among  the  Cree  and  Salteaux  Indians.  By 
Rev.  Egerton  R.  Young.  $1.25. 

Vikings  of  To-Day :  Life  and  Medical  Work  among  the  Fishermen  of 
Labrador.  By  Wilfred  T.  Grenfell,  M.D.  $1.25. 

SPANISH  AMERICA. 

Latin  America.     By  H.  W.  Brown.     $1.20. 
Mexico  in  Transition.     By  William  Butler.     $2. 
Face  to  Face  with  the  Mexicans.    By  Mrs.  Gooch.    $2.50. 
Protestant  Missions  in  South  America.     By  H.  P.  Beach.     50  cents. 
The  Capitals  of  Spanish  America.     By  William  Ellroy  Curtis.     $3.50. 
Brazil;  Its  Conditions  and  Prospects.    By  C.  C.  Andrews.     $1.50. 
South  America.     By  Hezekiah  Butterworth.    $2. 
E.  C.  Millard.     75  cents. 

South  America.     By  Hezekiah  Butterworth.     $2. 
Our  Island  Empire.     By  Charles  Morris.     $1.50. 
To-Morrow  in  Cuba.     By  C.  M.  Peppers.     $2. 

SOUTH  SKA  ISLANDS. 

The  Transformation  of  Hawaii.     By  Belle  M.  Brain.     $i. 

Hawaiian  America.     By  Caspar  Whitney.     $2.50. 

John  G.  Paton,  Missionary  to  the  New  Hebrides.     $1.50. 

John  Williams,  the  Martyr  Missionary  of  Polynesia.  By  Rev.  James  J. 
Ellis.  75  cents. 

James  Chalmers,  Missionary  and  Explorer  of  Raratonga  and  New 
Guinea.  By  William  Robson.  75  cents. 

WESTERN   ASIA. 

Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam.     By  Rev.  S.  M.  Zuemer,  F.R.G.S.     $2. 

The  Conversion  of  Armenia  to  the  Christian  Faith.  By  W.  St.  Clair- 
Tisdell,  M.A.  $1.40. 

Medical  Missions:  Their  Place  and  Power.  By  John  Lowe.  F.  R.  C.  S. 
E.  $1.50. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  -87 

Through  Armenia  on  Horseback.     George  H.  Hcpworth.     $„> 
Life  and  Times.     By  Rev.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  D.D.    $1.50.  ' 

INDIA. 

William  Carey.     Smith.     $3. 
Adoniram  Judson.     By  Smith. 
Within  the  Purda.     By  Hopkins. 
Irene  Petrie.     By  Mrs.  Cams-Wilson.    $1.50. 

The  Cross  in  the  Land  of  the  Trident.     By  Rev.  Harlan  P    Beach    '  =;o 
cents. 

In  the  Tiger  Jungle  and  Other  Stories  of  Missionary  Work  Among 
Telugus.     By  Jacob  Chamberlain,  M.D.,  D.D.     ?i. 

Across  India  at  the   Dawn  of  the  Twentieth   Century      By   Lucy   E 
Guinness.     $1.50. 

Mary  Reed,  Missionary  to  the  Lepers.     By  John  Jackson.    75  cents 

Indaj  and  Malaysia.    By  Bishop  James  M.  Thoburn.    $1.20. 

My   Missionary  Apprenticeship.     By   Bishop  James    M.   Thoburn     D  D 

$1.20. 

THE  ORIEXT. 

Village   Life   in   China:   A    Study   in    Sociology.      By    Rev.    Arthur    H 
A.  P.  Martin,  D.D.,  LL.D.     $1.25. 

The  Chinese:  Their  Education,   Philosophy,  and   Letters.     By   Rev    \V 
A.  P.  Martin,  D.D.,  LL.D.     $1.25. 

Dawn  on  the  Hills  of  T'ang.     By  H.  P.  Beach.     50  cent-. 

Chinese  Characteristics.     By  Rev.  Arthur  II.  Smith.  D.D.     $_>. 

A  Cycle  of  Cathay.     By  Rev.  W.  A.   P.   Martin,   D.D..   1,1.  I)      $j 

The  Siege  of  Peking.     By  Rev.  \Y.  A.  P.  Martin.  I). I)..  1. 1. .!>.     ;?_> 

Robert    Morrison,    the    Pioneer    of    Chinese    Missions.      By    U'iij'.-.rn    I. 
Townsend.     75  cents. 

China's  Only  Hope.     By  Chang  Chili  Tung.     $1.^5. 

The  Real  Chinese  Question.     By  Chester  Ho!c<>ml»\     $i  50. 

The  Real  Chinaman.     By  Chester  Ilolcomhe.     S-. 

Christian  Progress  in  China.     By  Ann 

The  Story  of  the  China   Inland  Mis-inn 

A  Young  Folks'   History  of  the  Chinese 
ham.  D.D.    $i. 

The  Break-Up  of  China.     By  Lord  Charlo-  Be:v-f..rd.     ^.; 

The  Outbreak  in  China.     By  Rev.  K  L.  H.  P.-tt,  P.P.     75 

Mission  Problems  in  South  China.     I'.y  Krv.  J.  C.  G:h->n.  !'.!>. 

Among  the  Thibetans.     By  I-abcl!a  B.   Hi>!:-  ;i.  !•'  K  G.S 

History  of  Protestant  Missic^ns  in  Ta;-an.      P.y  R •.••.-.  r.     $J 

Life  of  Joseph  Xee.-ima.     By  Har<ly.     $_• 

An  American  Missionary  in  Japan.     By  Gord<  :i.     $:  J.: 

Japanese  Girls  and  \\"omen.     By  Bao  n.     c:  J.- 
Japan and  Its  Regeneration.     By  Rev.  Or 

Japan:  Its  People  and  Mis-ion-.     By  Trs-< 

Japan:    The    Couir.ry.    Court,    and    Pe'-;>'.e 
M.A..  D.D.     $1.25. 


588  GENERAL   MISSIONARY   CONFERENCE. 

The  Gist  of  Japan :  The  Islands,  Their  People  and  Missions.  By  Rev. 
R.  B.  Peery,  A.M.,  Ph.D.  $1.25. 

The  Mikado's  Empire.     By  William  Elliott  Griffis.    $4. 

Verbeck  of  Japan,  a  Citizen  of  No  Country.  By  Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck. 
$1.50. 

From  Far  Formosa :  The  Island,  Its  People  and  Missions.  By  Rev. 
George  Leslie  Mackay,  D.D.  $1.25. 

Korea  and  Her  Neighbors.     By  Isabella  B.  Bishop,  F.R.G.S.    $2. 

Korean  Sketches:  A  Missionary's  Observations  in  the  Hermit  Nation. 
By  Rev.  James  S.  Gale.  $i. 

Siam,  the  Heart  of  Farther  India.     By  Mary  Lovena  Cort.     $i. 

AFRICA. 

Islam  in  Africa.     By  A.  P.  Atterbury.    $1.25. 

New  World  of  Central  Africa.     By  Guinness.     $1.50. 

Pilkington  of  Uganda.  By  Charles  F.  Harford-Battersby,  M.A.,  M.D. 
$1.50. 

The  Story  of  Uganda  and  the  Victoria  Nyanza  Mission.  By  Sarah  G. 
Stock.  $1.25. 

The  Story  of  Mackay  of  Uganda.     Told  by  his  sister.     $i. 

Life  of  David  Livingstone.     By  W.  Gorden  Blaikie.    $1.25. 

Daybreak  in  Livingstonia.     By  James  W.  Jack.    $1.50. 

Samuel  Crowther,  the  Slave  Boy  Who  Became  Bishop  of  the  Niger. 
By  Jesse  Page.  75  cents. 

Robert  and  Mary  Moffat :  Their  Lives  and  Labors  in  South  Africa. 
By  J.  S.  Moffat.  $1.75. 

HOME  MISSIONS. 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question.     By  Peabody.     $1.50. 

English  Social  Movements.     By  R.  A.  Woods.     $1.50. 

Factory  People  and  Their  Employers.     By  C.  L.  Shuey.     60  cents. 

Punishment  and  Reformation.     By  F.  H.  Wines.    $1.75. 

Child  Labor.     By  Willoughby  and  De  Graffenreid.     75  cents. 

Deaconesses  in  Europe,  and  Their  Lessons  for  America.  By  J.  M. 
Bancroft.  $1.50. 

Life  and  Work  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.     ly  E.  Hodder.     $i. 

Up  from  Slavery :  An  Autobiography.  By  Booker  T.  Washington.  $1.50. 

A  Ten  Years'  War.     By  J.  A.  Riis.     $1.50. 

Housing  of  the  Working  People.  By  Gould.  (Eighth  Special  Report 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Labor  Bureau,  Washington.)  Free. 

Friendly  Visiting  among  the  Poor.     By  M.  E.  Richmond.     $i. 

How  to  Help  the  Poor.     By  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields.     25  cents. 

A  Study  of  Child  Nature.     By  Harrison.     $i. 

Philanthropy  and  Social  Progress.     By  Addams,  et  at.     $1.50. 

Social  Aspects  of  Christianity.     By  R.  T.  Ely.     $i. 

The  Boy  Problem.     By  W.  B.  Forbush.     75  cents. 


COMMITTEES  OF  THE  GENERAL  MISSIONARY 
CONFERENCE. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

JAMES  ATKINS,  Chairman. 

BISHOP  A.  W.  WILSON,  BISHOP  E   R.  HENDRIX 

BISHOP  J.  S.  KEY,  BISHOP -  V V.  A    CANDLER, 


P    H 

MRS.  V/w7*MAcDoNELL,  W.  R.  LAMBUTH, 

J.  H.  PRITCHETT,  G.  W.  CAIN,  Secretary. 

BUSINESS   COMMITTEE. 
W    R.  LAMBUTH,  Chairman. 

^c™-  '        ^'™^rrer' 

PROGRAMME   COMMITTEE. 

O    E    BROWN,  Chairman. 

Mr-    R    W.  MACDONELL, 

J-  R-  PEPPER'  W.  R    LAMBL-TH. 

E.  H.  RAWLINGS, 

EXHIBIT    COMMITTEE. 

P    L.  COBB,  Chairman. 

T     ,,  \V.  C.   EYKRFTT. 

MRS.  P.  L.  COBB,  ATKINSON. 

Miss  JULIA  BUTLER, 

PRESS    COMMITTEE. 
G.  B.  WINTON.  Chaunu 

DIRECTOR    OE    MVS 
\V.    \.  HEMI-HIM-. 

..-PI.-XCE    orAKTET. 


A.  A.  BASS. 

W.    A.    HEMl'HILI., 

NE\V    ORLEANS    EN 

F.  A.  DICKS, 
W.  B.  THOMSON, 

E.    L.    McCiEUEE. 

GENERAL   COMMITT1- K    ON 

E.  L.  MAl'.-.H-,.-.   C:. 


59°  GENERAL   MISSIONARY    CONFERENCE. 

COMMITTEE    ON    HOTELS    AND    BOARDING    HOUSES. 
GEORGE  D.  PARKER,    Chairman. 

COMMITTEE    ON    HOMES. 
J.  F.  FOSTER,  Chairman. 

COMMITTEE    ON    TRAINS. 
T.  B.  CLIFFORD,    Chairman. 

LADIES'    COMMITTEE. 
MRS.  W.  W.  CARRF,,  Chairman. 
MRS.  W.  W.  CARRE,  Chairman. 


MISSIONARY  DIRECTORY. 

Names  and  Addresses  of  Missionaries  Employed  by  the  Board  of 
Missions,  M.  E.  Church,  South. 


NAME  OF  MISSIONARY. 

PRESENT  ADDRESS. 

HOME  CONFJCKENCI. 

China. 
Rev.  Y.  J.  Allen,  D.D..LL.D  
Eev.  A.  P.  Parker,  ]).D... 

Atlanta,  Ga  
Shanghai,  China 

North  Georgia. 
Missouri. 
North  Georgia. 
North  Georgia. 
North  Georgia. 
Son  tli  Georgia. 
Texas. 
Little  Rock. 
Western. 
Mississippi. 
North  weal  Texas. 
Fennessee. 
Little  Hock. 
Louisville, 
'iiciflc. 
S'ortli  Aliibiunn.  , 
'cnnes.-ee. 

lissi«f>ippi. 
'aoillc. 
lUanuri. 
lentuchy. 
laltimore. 
orida. 
PP.  ne$jt'c. 
i  kaiisu". 
i'c-UTii  North  Carr>!ir.i. 

Rev.  George  R.  Loehr  
Rev.  D.  L.  Anderson  

WET      TJpl'V      \t    f^ 

LI  burton,  Ga  
Soochow,  China  

Rev.  W.  B.  Burke  

Nashville,  Tenn  
Shanghai.  China 

Rev.  J.  L.  Hendrv  
Rov.  T.  A.  Hearn.  

Shanghai,  China  
Arkadelphia    Ark 

Rev.  R.  A.  Parker  

Rev.  J.  B.  Fearn,  M.D  
Rev.  E.  Pilley,  
Rev.  W.  B.  Nance  

Soochow,  China  

Nash  v  illy.  To  mi  

Rev.  J.  W.  Cline  
Rev.  H.  T.  Reed  

Shanghai,  China  

Rev.  J.  A.  G.  Shipley  Isooc.lmw.  c7>YnV< 

Rev.  Joseph  Whitesido  
John  D.  Trawick,  M.D  

Japan.—  Mrs.  M.  I.  Lambuth  . 

Soochow,  China  
Soochow,  China.  ' 

Nashville.  Tenn 

Rev.  W.  E.  Towson  

Rev.  S.  H.  Wain  viglit,  M.D.... 

Kobe1,  Japan  ^ 

Rev.  T.  W.  B.  Deruaree.... 

Rev.  B.  W.  Waters  

Miss  N.  B.  Gaines  
Miss  A.  D.  Bryan  

Hiroshima,  Japan  ! 
Hiroshima,  Japan  ." 
Hillsboro.  Te\:.s                           1 

Rev.  C.  B.  Moseley  

Rev.  W.  A.  Wilson  

Sutherland.  \.  C...                   ..    \ 

Uwajinut,  Jap. in N.>rt!i 

Nakatsa,  Japa;i North 


Kev.  J.  T.  Meyers Baltimore.  Md 

Rev.  C.  A.  Tag  no 'Sulphur,  K'v....  ...  Kentucky. 

Rev.  S.  E.Hage;- Hiro. 

Rev.  W.  P.  Turner 

Rev.  W.  J.  Callahan 

Rev.  W.  R.  Weak  ley 

Rev.  T.  H.  Haden |Knbt?    !.ipan \  : 

Miss  Ida  M.  Worth St    L-itii-.  .Mo -t.  T.OMH. 

Miss  Lizzie  O.  Thomas illiro.-hnna,  Jnpim Florida. 

Miss  Anna  Lanius  (Hiroshima,  -lapan .Mis-mri. 

Miss  Maud  Bonne!! i|\obt'>,  Japan In  i:an  Mir 

Miss  Emma  I'oteet Kobe,  J.ipan V-:th  T.  \ 

Mrs.  F.  C.  Macaulay jHiro-lihna,  Japan l.-.ni-ville. 

j 

Brazil.—  Kev.  •!.  L.  Kennedy Rio  do  Janeiro,  Bra/.il 1 

Rev.  II.  C.  Tucker Rio  de   lanein.,  I'.rn/.il T 

Rev.  J.   W.  WoUing ^ao  Paulo,  I'.ra/.il - 

Rev.  J.  W.  Tarlx.'iix ..iNaslivi'lc.  T.'im - 

Rev.  E.  A.  Tiller I'etroi.ojjs.  r.n./.il I 

Rev.  Michael  Dickie [Nasln  ille.  Tenn \ 

Rev.  John  M.  Lander .iiu/.  d<-  i-'r.ni.  Bra/.il •> 

Rev.  J.  L.  Bruee i'iraoi.-alia,  I',:M/;! 

Rev.  E.  E.  Joiner Ribi>ira:>  I'reto,  lira/il. 

Rev.  W.  B.  Lee Jr/7.  de  Fora.  Bra/'!.  ... 

Rev.  J.  il.    f-f:i!r.ilti:n IJil'i-i-a..  1'rrto.  I'.r.i/il. 

Rev.  J.  .M.  Ti-rroi! Pelropolis   I:r:i7'l 

Rev.  J.  V\'.  I'rlei I'-.irto  .Vlegiv.  llr;./.i! 


Mexico.— ;'.T'\  . 

Rev. Georpe B.  W  •  '•••••> -  • 

HPV.  J.  R.  Mood Moni.-i 

Rev.  J.  B.  (  ox  Guild:.: 

P.ev.  J.  W.  Grin-"- Pin-Ma 

ilev.  [C.  J.   Y'earvvi-od San  Ln 

Hev.  J.  F.  Corb:  i -1  I'a - 

Rev,  K.  C.  Kllii.;- Dnr.m 

Rev.  N.  I-).  Joriv.  r 

Rev.  F.  S.  Olid. TI  !.    .k 
Hev.  J.  fl.  Fitztr"v.-i 
Rev.  Lawrence  '.'••••  nobU. 

Rev*.  I?.  G.  il.'irsli 

Rov.  H.  L.  lira 

Hev.  W.  F.  Oul.-b; 


Kev.  C.  T.  Coil  ,';• 
R.  A.  ITardie,  M.U 
Rev.  J.  H.  MO,,M\... 

C.  B.  Ha.  1-0:1.   M    I 


Cubn.—  Hev 
Kev.  (i.  N.  .Ma.' 
Rev.  1>.  W.  Ca 
Rev.  W.  K.  Sen 
Rev.  T.  K.  Le'a 
Rev.  Jf.  W.  I-'i 
Rev.  J.  D.  l.e-.v! 
Rev.  K.  T.  '  ii- 


II. 


Names  and  Addresses  of  Missionaries   Employed  by  the  Woman's 
Foreign   Missionary  Society. 


MISSIONARY. 

POST  OFFICE. 

FORMER  RESIDENCE. 

Miss  Lochie  Rankin  

Shanghai,  China.    Box  143  

Milan,  Tenn. 
Meridian,  Miss. 
Springfield,  Mo. 
Marshall,  Tex. 
Galveston,  Tex. 
Lynchburg,  Va. 
High  Shoals,  Ga. 
Union,  S.  C. 
Murray,  Ky. 
Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 
Elberton,  Ga. 
Mountain  Grove,  Mo. 
Roscoe,  Mo. 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Perryvifie,  Kv. 
Rock  Mills,  Ala. 
Oxford,  Ga. 
Marion,  Ky. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Mt.  Sterling,  Ky. 
Mt.  Crawford,  Va. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Somerset,  Ky. 
Somerset,  Ky. 
West  Point,  Ga. 
Galveston,  Tex. 
Livingston,  Ala. 
Georgetown,  Tex. 
McFall,  Mo. 
Chape!  Hill,  Tex. 
[lolly  Springs,  Miss. 
Palo  AHo,  Tex. 
Edwards,  Miss. 
Newport,  Ky. 
Georgetown,  Tex. 
Batesville,  Ark. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Durango,  Mexico. 
Anthonv,  Fla. 
Wytheviile,  Va. 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Convers,  Ga. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Naperville,  111. 
Salisbury,  Mo. 
Carrollton,  Mo. 
Louisville,  Kv. 
Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Granbery,  Tex. 
Eclectic,  Ala. 
Warr«n  Plains,  N.  C. 
Savannah,  Ga. 
Paris,  Kv. 
I'tica,  Miss. 

Miss  Bettie  Hughes  

Miss  Helen  L.  Richardson  
Miss  Minnie  Bomar  

Shanghai,  China  

Miss  Mary  M.  Tarrant  
Miss  Ella  R.  Coffev  

Shanghai,  China,  
Shanghai,  China  

Miss  Ella  D.  Lever'itt  

Shanghai,  China  

Miss  Johnnie  Sanders  
Miss  Alice  G.  Waters  
Miss  Lizzie   Martin  

Shanghai,  China  
Shanghai,  China  
Shanghai,  China  

Miss  P^rnma  Gary  

At  home  

Miss  Clara  Steo'pr  

Miss  Martha  Pyle  

Miss  Susie  E.  Williams  

Soochow,  China,  

Miss  Margaret  Polk.. 

Missjennie  M.  Atkinson  

Mrs.  Julia  Gaither  

Miss  Alice  Griffith. 

Mrs.J.  P.  Campbell  

Miss  Fannie  Hinds  

Seoul,  Korea  

Miss  Arrena  Carroll  

Seoul,  Korea,  

Miss  Sadie  Harbau<rh. 

Miss  Nannie  E.  Holdir.<r. 

Miss  Delia  Holding  

Mrs.  A.  E.  McClendon  

Miss  Edith  Park  

Laredo,  Texas  

Miss  Hardynia  Xorville  
Miss  Annie  Churchill  

Mexico  City,  Mexico  

Miss  Fannie  B.  Moling  

Miss  Viola  Blackburn  

Miss  Lelia  Roberts  

Miss  Lela  McNemar.         ...  . 

Miss  Lizzie  Wilson  

Miss  Esther  Case  
Miss  Laura  V.  Wright  

Guadalajara,  Mexico  
Guadalajara,  Mexico  

Miss  Kate  C.  McFarren  
Miss  Ellie  B.  Tydings  
Miss  May  Umberger  
Miss  M.  H.  Watts  

Durango,  Mexico  
Durango,  Mexico  
Petropolis,  Brazil  
At  home  ... 

Miss  Willie  Bowman  

At  home  

Miss  Amelia  Elerding  
Miss  Eliza  Perkinson  

Sao  Paulo,  Brazil  

Miss  Ida  Shaffer  

Miss  Clara  B.  Fullerton  

Juiz  de  Fora,  Brazil  

Miss  Mary  T.  Pescud  
Miss  Lily  Stradley  
Miss  Leonora  D.  Smith 

Porto  Alegre,  Brazil  

Piracicaba,  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil  

Miss  E.  Davis  
Miss  Hattie  G.  Carson  
Miss  Sue  Ford. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil  
Havana,  Cuba  
Havana   Cub-i 

Miss  M.  E.  Cessna  

Havana,  Cuba  

INDEX. 


Abeel,  David,  234. 

Addams,  Miss  Jane,  ''Social  Settle- 
ments," 15. 

"Adequacy  of  Christianity  to  Meet 
the  World's  Need,"  89. 

Agnew,  Miss,  87,  159. 

"Aim  and  Scope  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions," 23. 

Allen,  Y.  J.,  13,  29,  339.  372;  "Mis- 
sionary Outlook,"  347;  "Supreme 
Need  of  the  Work  in  China,"  191. 

America,  Position  in  the  Orient,  316. 

American  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, 40. 

Angelo,  Michael,  92. 

Anglo-Chinese  College,  379,  382. 

Apostolic  Succession,  71. 

Atkins,  James,  ''Origin  and  Purpose 
of  Conference,"  3 ;  "Young  People 
and  the  Church,"  241  ;  ii,  16. 


Barrett,  John,  Future  of  Missions  in 
Asia."  310;  14.  33. 

Bennett,  Miss  Belle  H.,  "Woman's 
Home  Mission  Society,"  524. 

Bible  and  Missions,  TOO  ;  And  Pagan- 
ism, 109;  In  Italy,  105;  Oli.iect  Les- 
sons in,  45:  Societies,  100.  204: 
Schools,  no;  Translation-;.  103. 

Bible  Women,  231  :  School,  for,  236: 
Value  of,  238. 

Bigham,  R.  J..  "Our  Res|>  .nubility 
to  the  Negro,"  4<)6. 

Bishop,  Horace.  "Problems  of  Self- 
Support."  4<*)- 

Hoard  of  Mission-.  M.  E.  Church 
South,  Policy  of.  34,?:  Change- 
Suggested,  344:  Early  Hi-'ory, 

Boxers.  Cause  of  the  OutKvak.  .' 
34.  45.  35o.  39°.  304.  405. 

Brain,    Mis?    Belle    : 

Training  and  Literature." 

Brainerd.  David.  71.  3-5-  3-7-  ^ 


Brazil,  Evangelistic  \\'..rk  in.  114 
Geography  and  Product-  of.  4jj 
History  of.  424;  Map  of.  422 
Opening  of  Work  in,  340.  425 
Schools  in,  163;  Survey  of,  422. 

Bright,  John,  41. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  27. 

Brown,   O.   E.,   "Aim   and   Scope  of 
Foreign  Missions,"  23. 

Buchanan,  Claudius,  71. 

Buddhism,  91,  96. 

Cambridge  Seven,  83. 

Campaign,  The  Missionary,  346. 

Campbell,  Mrs.  J.  P.,  102,  443. 

Canada,  Roman  Catholicism  in,  105. 

Capers,  Bishop,  338.  449. 

Carey,  William,  3,  71,  325,  327. 

Carter.  D.  W.,  "Mexico  and  Cuba." 
407. 

Ceylon,  87. 

Charts,  Value  of,  290;  561. 

Childhood.  Primacy  of.  24 J  :  Relation 
to  the  Church.  244;  Study  of.  240. 

China.  A  Ward.  193:  Con.-nl  General 
to.  34;  Geography  of.  351  :  Greater 
Opening  in.  50:  Map  of.  347  :  "Mi-- 
-i'ltiarv    Oii'i"<>k    in."    3.),":    <  >per> 
mg  of  Work  in.  337:    Parti:; •  >n   ••!. 
350;    Pns-ihilitu-.  of.  303;    !'...«•::% 
of.  40:    Kef'  mi    M''vrtiH-::t    :::,   353 


594 


INDEX. 


Christ,  Alive  To-Day,  52;  And  the 
Church,  79;  His  Coming,  118;  the 
Captain,  54 ;  Lift  Up,  72 ;  Man's 
Greatest  Gift,  42;  Prayer  Life  of, 
88;  Preach  Christ,  not  Controver- 
sy, 52;  Simplicity  of,  56;  Sover- 
eignty of,  75 ;  The  Divine  Mission- 
ary, 32 ;  The  Dynamo,  58. 

Christianity,  Final  Religion,  96;  Uni- 
versal Religion,  77,  95  ;  Transform- 
ing Power  of,  94 ;  Triumph  of,  99. 

Church  Extension,  Missionary  Phase 
of,  300;  Board  of,  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  300;  Statistics  of,  301; 
Work  in  Foreign  Fields,  385. 

Church  Missionary  Society,  82. 

Church,  The,  and  Its  Leaders,  HI; 
Corrupted  by  Patronage,  119;  Ini- 
tiation of,  119. 

Churches,  Value  of,  301,  305. 

City  Missions  345,  517,  519,  527. 

"City  Population  in  the  South, 
Growth  and  Character  of,"  507, 
510,  541. 

Coke,  Thomas,  328. 

Commerce  and  Missions,  34,  36. 

Conference,  General  Missionary,  10; 
"Origin  and  Purpose  of,"  3 ;  Com- 
mittees of,  589 ;  Creation  of  a  Lit- 
erature, 6;  Enduement  of  the 
Spirit,  8;  Incidents,  17;  Member- 
ship, ii ;  Methodists  in  the  Lead, 
5;  Missionary  Interests,  7:  Prayer 
Circle,  7;  Proceedings,  n;  Re- 
sults. 18. 

Cobb,  Mrs.  P.  L.,  "The  Missionary 
Exhibit,"  557. 

Conger,  Minister,  397. 

Conscience,  92. 

Constantine,  Emperor.  99,  120. 

Cooperation  in  Evangelization,  72. 

Cox,  Melville,  330. 

Cuba,  Circulation  of  Bible  in,  107; 
Map  of.  412  ;  Opening  of  Work  in. 
341,  412. 

Cunnyngham,  \V.  G.  E.,  339,  371. 

Curzon.  Lord.  34. 

Cust.  Dr..  10=;. 


Davis,  Dr.,  87. 

Deaconess,  The,  214;  Work  of,  218,. 
219;  Support  of,  221. 

De  Reyna,  Spanish  Translation,  106. 

Diocletian,  99. 

Doremus,  Mrs.,  234. 

Doshisha  University,  87. 

Drummond,  Henry,  94. 

Du  Bose,  H.  M.,  "Highest  Achieve- 
ment of  the  Epworth  League,"  262. 

Duff,  Alexander,  322. 

"Duty  of  the  Pastor,"  no;  Must 
Know,  113;  Must  Lead,-n6. 

Dyer,  G.  W.,  "Growth  of  City  Popu- 
lation in  the  South,"  507. 

Ecumenical  Conference,  on  Foreign 
Missions,  3;  Effect  on  Future  of 
Missionary  Work,  4;  Personnel 
and  Scope,  4. 

Edmonds,  Canon,  104. 

Education  and  Evangelization  Recip- 
rocal, 31,  59. 

Education  and  Foreign  Mission 
Work,  126. 

Educational  Work,  In  China,  161 ; 
In  India,  210;  Of  Woman's  Board, 
161  ;  The  Why  of,  155,  164. 

Edwards,  W.  E.,  "Duty  of  the  Pas- 
tor," no. 

Emperor  of  China,  353,  361,  373. 

Empress  Dowager,  35,  355,  394. 

English,  Study  of,  141 ;  Growth  of, 
199. 

Epworth  League,  "Highest  Achieve- 
ment of,"  262 ;  And  Missions,  266 ; 
And  the  Experience  Meeting,  265  ; 
A  School.  264;  How  to  Make  It 
Most  Effective,  284;  Missionary 
Meeting  of,  285 ;  Mission  Study 
Class.  286. 

Evangelistic  Work,  29:  By  Women, 
212 ;  In  China,  3/7 ;  "In  the  For- 
eign Mission  Field,"  415;  Meaning 
of,  416;  Plan  for,  417;  Power  of, 
30. 

Evangelization  of  This  Generation, 
276. 


Factory    Life,    515,    527,    536, 

543- 
Fearn,  Mrs.  Anne  Walter,  "Medical 

Work  for  Woman,"  187. 
"Foreign   and   Factory   Population." 

529. 

"Forward  Movement  in  China,"  368. 
Fox,    John,    "Bible    and    Missions," 

100  ;  12. 

Freeman,  Prof.,  98. 
Fukien  Province,  China,  86. 
Fuller,  Andrew,  40. 

Gain.es,  Miss  Nannie  B..  162,  435. 
Galerius,  99. 

Galloway,    Bishop    C.    B.,    "Lessons 

from    Master    Missionaries,"    317: 

15- 
Gamewell,    F.    D.,    Fortifies    British 

Legation,  401;   "Siege  of  Pekin." 

394  ;  16,  333- 
German   Missions,   456;   History   of. 

456;    In    New    Orleans,    459;     In 

Texas,    457;    Literature    of,    462; 

Personnel,    461  ;    Present     Status. 

463. 
Gibson.  Miss  M.  L.,  "Woman's  Edu- 

cational  Work."  154. 
Gordon,  A.  J.,  38,  71,  84. 
Goucher,    John    F..    "Missions    and 

Education,"  133  ;  n. 
Granbery,   Bishop  J.   C..  ''Obedience 

to  the  Great  Commission."  74 
Gratvbery  College.  31. 
Grant,  W.  Henry.  11. 
Gulick,  Dr.,  85. 
Gulick.  Mrs.  Alice  Gordon.  150. 


Hall.  Charles  CuthbiTt. 
Hammond.    Mrs.    J.    I) 
of  Home  Missions." 
Harford-Battershy,  Dr. 
Harnack,  Prof..  27. 
Hart,  Sir  Robert.  34. 
Hayes.  Mrs.  Juliana.  ,u_'. 
Haygood.  Bishop  A.  ll..  47. ; 
Haygood.  Miss  Laura.  28.  2 
Healing  of  the  Nation-.  45 
Heathen  Nations.  Pover:\ 


INDEX. 

538, 


595 


Helm.  Miss  Mary,  15. 

Hendrix,  Bishop  R.  R..  "Missionary 
Idea,"  33;  "Adequacy  of  Chn*.- 
tianity,"  89. 

Hernandez,  Alt- jo,  340. 

Holding.  Miss,  163. 

Holy  Spirit,  Reveals  Chri-t.  52: 
Source  of  Power.  60:  \Vitm-~,  74. 

"Home  Mission  Society.  Woman's." 
14;  Map  of  Work.  524:  Hi^ory  of. 
524;  Schools  of.  528. 

Home  Missions.  493;  Boards  of. 
500;  Correlation  Needed.  4</>: 
Same  as  Foreign.  493:  Self-Sup- 
port in.  498.  499.  504:  Trained 
Workers  Needed.  502. 

Moss,  E.  E..  "Organi/ati'.n  f.  r  Mis- 
sionary Work."  207. 

Hubhard.  G.  W..  •'Medici!  Ed'.ic.v 
of  the  Negro."  4^4. 


i  So. 


Immortalit,   .\ 


i.  4- 


596 


INDEX. 


Kelley,  Mrs.  Florence.  "Our  Foreign 
and  Factory  Population,"  529;  15. 

Kelley,  Mrs.  Lavinia,  225. 

Koran,  The,  97. 

Korea,  Map  of,  440;  "Mission,"  440; 
Opening  of  Work  in,  341 ;  Wom- 
an's Work  in,  229. 

Kwansei  Gakuin,  The,  31,  436. 

Lambuth,  J.  W.,  371,  432. 

Lambuth,  Mrs.  M.  I.,  "Bible  Wom- 
en," 231 ;  159,  161,  225. 

Lambuth,  W.  R.,  "Missionary  Work 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,''  337; 
17,  376,  432. 

Lane  College,  480. 

LaPrade,  W.  H.,  "Need  of  Trained 
Workers,"  519. 

Laredo  Seminary,  163. 

Library,  Missionary,  287. 

Literary  Work,  191,  199. 

Literature  of  Home  Missions,  539. 

Livingstone,  David,  29.  330. 

Lone  Star  Mission,  Telugus,  86. 

Luther,  Martin,  104,  120,  328. 

Mackay  of  Uganda,  291. 

Manchu  Dynasty,  34. 

Martyn,  Henry,  71,  329. 

Martyr,  Justin,  119. 

McGavock,  Mrs.  D.  H.,  225,  342. 

McKim,  H.  M.,  342. 

McKinley,  President,  33,  311. 

McTyeire  Home  and  School,  162. 

Medical  Work,  Advantages  of,   179, 

190;  "For  Women,"  187;  In  China, 

375 ;  Merchant  and  Missionary,  35. 
M.    E.    Church,    South,    Missionary 

Work  of,  337. 
"Methodism  and  Modern  Missions," 

117,  124. 

Methodists  in  Northern  India,  86. 
Methvin.    J.    J.,    "Work    among   the 

Indians,"  447. 
Mexico,    General    Survey    of.    407 ; 

Map  of,  407 ;  Opening  of  Work  in, 

340,  411  ;  Schools  in,  163,  229. 
Millar,  A.  C,  "Study  of  Missions," 

145- 


Missions,  Aim  of,  26,  137 ;  and 
Creeds,  41 ;  In  Asia,  Future  of, 
310;  Place  of,  112;  "Prayer  and," 
80;  Reflex  Action  of,  117;  Science 
of,  202;  Study  of,  19,  146,  153,  279. 

Missionaries,  "Lessons  from  Mas- 
ter," 317;  Needed,  281;  Should  Be 
Educated,  165;  Tributes  to,  320; 
For  the  Home  Work,  520. 

Missionary  Exhibit,  557. 

"Missionary  Idea,"  33. 

Missionary  Literature,  In  English, 
200,  295 ;  In  the  Vernacular,  203. 

Mohammedanism,  91,  92. 

Moose,  J.  R.,  "The  Korea  Mission," 
440. 

Moravians,  The,  291. 

Mott,  John  R.,  "Prayer  and  Mis- 
sions," 80;  "Responsibility  of 
Young  People,"  271 ;  15,  16. 

Native  Church,  28;  Development  of, 

143- 

Native  Workers,  In  Medicine,  188 ; 
Need  of,  175,  420;  Training  of,  140. 

Negro,  The,  Attitude  of  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  to,  468 ;  Education- 
al Work  for,  469,  482;  Future  of, 
481 ;  "Medical  Education  of,"  484 ; 
Missionaries,  491 ;  Missions  to, 
466;  Mortality  of,  489;  "Our  Re- 
sponsibility to,"  466;  Physicians, 
487;  What  He  Wishes  and  What 
He  Needs,  483. 

Newman,  J.  E..  340. 

Newton,  John,  71. 

Newton,  J.  C.  C..  "Christian  Missions 
in  Japan,"  428. 

"Obedience  to  the  Great  Commis- 
sion," 74. 

Oldham,  W.  F.,  151. 

"Oneness  in  Christ,"  62. 

"Organization  for  Missionary 
Work,"  267. 

Outlook  Hopeful,  115. 

Pagan  and  Papal  Lands,  105. 

Paine    Institute,    Graduates    of,    476, 

469,  474. 


INDEX. 


597 


Palmer,  B.  M.,  17. 

Park,  W.  H.,  "Physician  As  a  Mis- 
sionary," 179;  13,  29. 

Parker,  A.  P.,  "Educational  Work  in 
China,"  169,  373. 

Parker,  Susie,  552. 

Pastor  and  Missions,  148. 

Paton,  John  G.,  83. 

Paul,  89,  114. 

Payne,  Moses  U.,  475. 

Peking,  "Siege  of,"  394;  34,  45,  82. 

Pepper,  John  R.,  "Sunday  School 
Superintendent,"  257;  16. 

Persecution,  120. 

Philippine  Islands,  103. 

Piracicaba,  162. 

Population  of  the  World,  272. 

Prayer,    "And    Missions,"    80;    For 


Schools,     Better    than    Orphanages, 

144;  For  Bible  Women,  236;  Girls', 

History  of,  157;  Mission,  Basis  of, 

127;  Need  of,  128. 
Scott,  Thomas,  71. 

Self-Support,  "Problems  of," 499;  28. 
Shanghai,  369. 
Siam,  King  of,  312;  Missionaries  in, 

313. 

Singh.  Miss  Lilavati.  160. 
Social  Question,  The.  Books  on.  544. 
Societies.  Christian  Literature.  204. 
Society  fur  I  Diffusion  of  Knw 

195.  197. 
Soochow.    370.    391  :    Hospital. 

University.   15.  31.   171,  360. 
Spain.  In  America.  407. 
Spanish,   Literature.   207 ; 

409. 


Missionaries,  85  ;  For  Native  Chris-    Spiritual    Life.     Deepening    Needed. 

tians,  85;  Force  of,  87;  Jesus's  In-       69.  545. 

tercessory,  64 ;  Open  Doors,  Result  i  Spiritual  Surgery.  ". 

of.  82. 

Preparation  of  Preacher,  113. 
Pritchett,    J.    H.,    "Methodism    and 

Modern  Missions,"  117. 

Rabe,  J.  A.  G.,  "German  Missions," 

456. 

Ramabai,  Pundita,  160. 
Rankin.  Miss  Dora,  228. 
Rankin.  Miss  Lochie.  228. 
Rankin,  Miss  Melinda,  157. 
Ransom,  J.  J.,  340. 


St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  37. 
Student  Volunteer-;   255. 
Suffering.  Joy  of.  553. 
Sunday    School,    24').    2<'>:    > 

tendent.  2". 
Sutherland.   Alexander.  "U:»< 

Christ."  02,  1 1. 
Swain.  Dr.  Clara  A  .  209. 
Syrians.  534. 
Systematic  Gi\ing.  2711,  jS<v  2. 


Turin  >u.\. 


I 


Reformation,    Efforts    at,    121;    The        \\".<rk."  414. 


True,  122. 
Reid.  C.  F.,  "Forward  Movement  in 

China,"  368;  440. 
Rescue  Homes,  528. 
Rci'ic'ic  of  the  Times,  196. 
Roman  Church,  104. 
Roman  World,  97. 
Rural  Life  in  the  South,  513. 

Salvation  Army,  522. 
Salvation.  Scope  of.  133.  iy-2- 
Saunders.  T.  F..  "Lane  College,"  480. 
Scarritt  Bible  School,  166. 
Schofield,  Dr.,  83. 


i; 
Mrs 


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ike 

Taylor.   Hu«N    • 

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T,i\  1'  r.   >.    K.it 

Kpuorth  Le 

U". 

2X4;  i'.. 

Tertuihar.,   I  n;. 

Thoburn.  Mis- 

isa 

Thoburn.  Bi-!'.> 

p  J 

the  Nati.  us." 

45 

at  H"tr.o  ar,,i 

Ah 

322. 

598 


INDEX. 


Tilly,  E.  A.,  "Survey  of  Brazil,"  422. 
Toland,  Miss,  163. 
Translations,  205 ;  Spanish,  207. 
Trueheart,    Mrs.    S.    C,    "Woman's 
Work  in  Foreign  Missions,"  222; 

IS- 

Tsang,  B.  G.,  13. 
Tucker,  H.  C.,  108. 
Tulane  Hall,  II. 
Twentieth  Century,  Possibilities  of, 

13- 
Tyndal,  104. 

Venn,  Henry,  28. 

Wainright,  S.  H.,  "Christian  Educa- 
tion and  Foreign  Mission  Work," 
126;  164. 

Walker,  George  W.,  "Paine  Insti- 
tute," 4/4. 

War,  In  China,  51;  Chino-Japanese, 
347,  356. 

Washington,  Booker  T.,  "Future  of 
the  Negro,"  481 ;  14,  249. 

Watts,  Miss  M.  H.,  162. 

Wesley,  John,  26;  Charles,  41. 


Whisner,  P.  H.,  "Missionary  Phase 

of  Church  Extension,"  300,  384. 
Wightman,  Mrs.  M.  D.,  15. 
Wigram,  Secretary,  82. 
Wilson,  Bishop  A.  W.,  "Situation  in 

China,"  384;  13. 
Winton,  G.  B.,  "General  Missionary 

Conference,"  10;  "Literary  Work: 

A  General  Survey,"  199;  2. 
Witnesses  for  Christ,  54. 
Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 

M.  E.  Church,  235. 
Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 

M.  E.  Church,  South,  161,  224,  342; 

Medical  Work  of,  231. 
Woman's  Work,  208. 
World's  Need,  90. 

Young  People  and  Missions,  260, 
266;  "Missionary  Training  and 
Literature  for,"  291 ;  "Responsibil- 
ity of  the,"  271 ;  Societies  of,  247, 
275 ;  Training  of,  252,  254. 

"Young  People  and  the  Church," 
241. 

Yun,  T.  H.,  341. 

Yun,  Mrs.  T.  H.,  161. 


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